


moderation

by Katranga



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff and Angst, Humor, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), love bug, love bug au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-10-18 01:02:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katranga/pseuds/Katranga
Summary: Keith gets bits by a love bug and falls for Lance. Allura gets bit and falls for Hunk. The only problem is that Keith already has a real, overwhelming crush on Lance, so he decides to only do what Allura does so he doesn't give himself away. A plan that rapidly falls apart.--Lance stared at him expectantly.Keith raised his brows at him. “And this… is why… we wear helmets! You reckless, stupid-stupidly hot, annoyingly charming—”“Watch out, guys,” Pidge cut in. “I think Keith’s gonna self-combust trying to compliment Lance and drag him at the same time.”Lance shoved Keith’s helmet into his chest. “Seriously? Acting like you’re dying, making me feel guilty about taking your helmet off, and you just didn’t wanna say anything nice to me? You’re a dick.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I'm back! And I broke up with canon. Got halfway through season six and dipped, but I've got fic lying around so here we are. People still like love bug aus right? That's still topical? No? Well, it's what I've got.  
> This is set sometime in season 4 I think?? Shiro's not a clone though, because I don't wanna deal with that. Also this fic has nooo action because I also don't wanna deal with that! Just feelings and jokes here!  
> Please enjoy!

_Want me to love you in moderation_  
_Do I look moderate to you?/_  
_Want me to love you in moderation_  
_Well, don't you know, I wish I could_

\- Moderation by Florence and the Machine 

~~~

The plant life on Luloi was vibrant and colourful, like a six year old with an affinity for rainbows had designed it. The sap Keith discovered when he cut into anything was as thick as the humidity soaking the syrupy sweet air. He’d never seen anything quite like this place, and he wasn’t sure he was enjoying it on this endless hike.

He sliced through a leafy branch to clear his path, and his bayard cut through the weirdly sticky wood without a fight. He shook off the goo sticking to his blade. It landed with a _splat_ on the dirt.

He didn’t break his stride.

Lance didn’t break from talking. “See, you didn’t get this with the Blade, did you? I bet your space jungle intake drops 100% when you’re off with them, sneaking into boring Galra bases to steal passcodes.”

“They’re dangerous missions, Lance,” Keith bit out. “And we won’t be able to take down Zarkon without the intel we get.”

When Lance didn’t immediately retort, Keith looked over his shoulder at him.

Lance was pouting behind his helmet visor. “I didn’t say they weren’t important,” he muttered, eyes on the ground.

Keith sighed. He hadn’t meant to snap at him. Normally Keith welcomed excursions on the ground, but he’d just come back from one of those Blade missions without even a nap in between, so his patience was already thin. He could’ve slept off his exhaustion on the castle, but Lance wasn’t wrong; he missed going out with Voltron since he’d joined the Blade of Marmora full time.

Even though hacking through a mountainside jungle in search of a possibly mythical artifact had _not_ been on the docket when they left the castle ship this morning.

“No, it’s fine. This is more fun, really.” Keith grunted when his bayard slid through a thick wad of branches only to strike a large rock.

Lance laughed. “I see the Blade hasn’t made you any better of a liar.”

Keith ignored they way his heartbeat spiked at the sight of Lance’s smile “You’d be surprised.”

He’d rolled his eyes right on cue when Shiro paired him and Lance up for the mission, as if he hadn’t been thrilled that he’d be spending hours alone with Lance. Shiro, of course, knew what was up. But nobody else did, because Keith was a _good_ liar. About this one thing, at least.

Keith swatted away a few glowing bugs before poking the crumbling rock his bayard had hit. “This look like a ruin of a sacred temple to you?”

Lance leaned in with a curious hum. “If it is, nature has completely overwhelmed it. This thing’s covered in vines and stuff.”

“The elders did say it was ancient…”

The Luloix council of elders had graciously narrowed down the search parameters for their lost sacred artifact to about forty square miles of jungle, so the team had split up to cover more ground. But since it was so old, the Luloix barely knew what they were supposed to be looking for, so they could honestly walk right past the ruins without noticing.

Lance pulled out his bayard. “Lemme try something.”

A long blade flashed to life in his hands.

Keith pursed his lips. Right, Lance used a sword now. That didn’t affect Keith, not in the slightest… He didn’t watch with rapt attention as Lance swung his blade through vines and branches too thick to see through like they were nothing. His face didn’t heat thinking back to the last time they’d trained together, when Lance had stripped down to a tank top and shorts, and he’d won the fight because Keith had gotten too distracted by his much-developed arm muscles to defend himself.

“I think it’s just a rock,” Lance decided when he’d sliced away enough vines to reveal a five feet wide boulder.

“Alright.”

They checked in with the others over the comms, who also hadn’t found any leads. Keith and Lance continued their trek.

“This was supposed to be a diplomatic mission,” Lance picked up his complaining as he ducked out of the fifth swarm of bugs they’d passed in the last hour. “Schmooze the locals, eat some delicacies, impress the head honchos with tales of our daring adventures. Nobody said anything about getting lost in a jungle.”

“We’re not lost.” They just didn’t know where they were going. They knew the way back—the path they’d spent three hours hacking through.

Lance slapped his arm. “Hey, how much you wanna bet there are no ruins and this is just a test to prove how much we want the Luloix to join our alliance?”

The corner of Keith’s mouth pulled up. “A _million_ dollars, because I can’t believe they’d rather us hike through this  jungle than wait a day for Pidge to whip up a radar that could pinpoint exactly where this stupid thing is.”

Lance snickered, pulling his helmet off. Sweat stuck his bangs to his forehead. A bead of it rolled down his temple to his sharp chin. He ran a hand through his hair, which was curling in the humidity

Keith was so distracted by the flush in Lance’s cheeks and the brightness in his eyes that he forgot to be annoyed for a second.

But just a second.

“Put your helmet back on!” Keith said. “You really wanna expose yourself to an alien planet’s jungle bullshit without your helmet filtering it?”

“Well it’s doing nothing to filter the humidity.” He blinked sweat out of his eyes. “This is better for my skin, believe me.”

“Yeah, and what about when a weird flower sneezes in your face and turns your skin blue?”

“C’mon, that happened _one_ time.”

“Because you took your helmet off!”

Keith was ducking as Lance lunged at him, but he managed to grab Keith’s head anyway.

Keith smacked his hand, almost stabbing Lance with his bayard because the idiot attacked him while he was holding a readied weapon. “Fuck off, Lance!”

Then a pop of suction was released and Keith’s face was exposed to fresh air for the first time since they’d started their hike. The soft breeze was refreshing on his overheated skin, he had to admit. But not to Lance.

“Fine, you wanna risk both our lives?” Keith shoved him away. “You can carry the helmets.”

“You’re welcome,” Lance said pointedly. He waved ahead of them. “Continue your hacking, Space Rambo. Let’s find these non-existent ruins and prove everyone wrong.”

Keith chopped through a thick purple branch in one swing.

Lance whistled. “Oh shit, I didn’t know I was at the gun show.”

He bit down on a grin. “Shut up, Lance.”

Another thing he wouldn’t admit was how much he missed Lance’s annoying banter. The Blade were all serious, all the time, even when no threats were imminent. It got so boring. And lonely. The Blade wasn’t a family by a long shot, but their work was important, so Keith kept going back. Every time he visited Voltron, he wondered if that was the right choice.

A shiny red bug flew past his eye. He swung at it.

“You trying to chop your nose off there?” Lance asked.

“There was a bug!” Keith defended, voice a little too high-pitched.

Lance rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re afraid of bugs.”

“I’m not afraid. Someone just took my helmet—OW!” In the middle of explaining why he didn’t want bugs around with nothing to protect himself, a sharp prick nipped the side of his neck. He slapped instinctively, palm coming away with a splatter of red. “Mother fuck—”

“Yikes, you shoulda kept your helmet on,” Lance said mildly.

“You dick head,” Keith said as he turned to face him. He glared at his stupid, beautiful face. “I can’t believe I like y—”

Keith slammed his hands over his mouth. Because he was about to finish that sentence with _you_ . As in ‘I can’t believe I like you’. He was about to say that to _Lance_.

And the longer he stared at Lance, wide-eyed in horror, the more ridiculous statements bubbled to his tongue. Like how Lance’s eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and how much Keith wanted to kiss that smirk off his face, or run his fingers through his sweaty hair. None of this was untrue, it was very much how Keith felt, but he’d never dreamed of saying these things out loud to Lance’s face.

Now the only way he was stopping himself from barfing up every compliment that flew into his mind was his hands trapping it all inside.

“What—are you eating that bug?” Lance laughed, and he looked so, _so_ good doing it. The sound of his amusement set butterflies alight in Keith’s stomach.

Keith wanted to say this all to Lance, right now, where Lance would be able to hear it. What was happening? How? Why god why? Keith frantically shook his head.

Lance’s brow creased, finally picking up on Keith’s distress. “Dude, are you okay?”

He shook his head again.

“Was it—was it the bug? Are you hurt? You look like you’re gonna puke.”

Keith nodded. Yes, he could definitely see himself barfing if he released even an ounce of what was running through his head. All this honesty and vulnerability right in front of Lance, who would just—laugh. That’s the only thing he’d be do if his rival starting waxing poetic about the way his fingers worked a blaster.

“Okay, it’s alright, man.” Lance lapsed into serious comforting mode, a state he’d rarely had to get into with Keith. He hooked their helmets on his belt, and then put a hand on his back. Keith leaned into it, because he couldn’t _not_. Couldn’t stop himself from taking advantage of Lance’s closeness and care. He wanted more. “Can you walk? Lemme comm the others, we’ll meet back up and figure out what’s going on. Don’t worry, I got you.”

God, he was so nice, why wasn’t he this nice to Keith all the time? Why couldn’t they just be friends? Why couldn’t they be _more_? Why in the hell did Keith have a burning desire to verbalize any of that?

Pidge’s voice filtered through Keith’s helmet before Lance could open a line. “Sending you the coordinates for the ruin.” A brief pause. “Oh, we found the ruin.”

“Allura and Hunk are already here,” Shiro added, trailing off like he had something else to share.

“Okay, we’re not far,” Lance said. “Keith might be sick or something, but we’ll be there soon.”

Keith held back a groan. The only thing worse than spilling his heart to Lance would be doing it in front of _everyone_. But Lance was already moving forward, and Keith was helpless but to follow.

 

They reached the others in twenty minutes, during which Keith mercifully didn’t blurt out how safe the weight of Lance’s arm wrapped around his shoulders made him feel.

The temple ruins were located under a large overhang of rock, and the whole thing looked like it was still standing thanks to spit and a prayer, but a jade statuette already sat at Pidge’s feet. So that was done.

Shiro and Coran were frantically chatting a few feet away from Pidge, and Allura was… draped over Hunk, complimenting his hair and his cooking and—

“What is that?” Lance asked flatly. His arm slipped off Keith. Keith shamelessly leaned into his side.

“A uh… bug,” Hunk mumbled, face red as a strawberry.

“Huh?”

Pidge could  barely contain her laughter. “Some bug bit Allura—show them your hand, Princess.”

Without moving away from Hunk, Allura held out her hand, palm down. Interrupting her dark brown skin was a small red mark, swollen just enough that it almost resembled a heart.

Keith’s eyes widened. “So what’s wrong with her?” he croaked from behind his fingers. What was wrong with _him_?

Coran bounded up to them, one finger lifted like he was pulling esoteric alien knowledge from the sky itself. “I believe this planet has one of those insect species whose bite heightens the levels of certain chemicals in the brain. Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and the like.”

“Right, one of _those_ insect species,” Pidge said dryly.

Coran nodded, twirling his moustache. “It appears the response is connected to the first individual one sees after its bite.”

“It’s temporary, right?” Shiro asked.

“I should hope so,” Hunk blurted.

Lance shook his head. “What does all that mean? Allura’s _happy_ when she sees Hunk?”

Allura gazed at Hunk with heart eyes that could be seen from space. “Oh, I’d say I’m downright enamoured.”

“Seriously?” Keith and Lance replied in unison. Keith in relief and Lance with the same flat tone as before.

Allura nodded. “But who wouldn’t have a crush on Hunk? Just look at him.”

“Don’t look at me,” Hunk mumbled miserably.

In a flash, Lance was yanking Keith’s hands away from his face and squinting at his throat, which still stung a little. “It’s the same.”

Keith drew in a deep breath, his first full inhalation since being bit.

Lance stared at him expectantly.

Keith raised his brows at him. “And this… is why… we wear helmets! You reckless, stupid—stupidly hot, annoyingly charming—”

“Watch out, guys,” Pidge cut in. “I think Keith’s gonna self-combust trying to compliment Lance and drag him at the same time.”

Lance shoved Keith’s helmet into his chest. “Seriously? Acting like you’re dying, making me feel guilty about taking your helmet off, and you just didn’t wanna say anything _nice_ to me? You’re a dick.”

“So are you.” Keith reached to grab his hand, because he wanted to, and the bug bite gave him free reign to do whatever he was feeling.

Lance spun away with a scowl.

And it hurt way more than it should, considering Lance had no reason to want to hold his hand in the first place, especially since Keith was still insulting him. But the pain was a kick straight to the chest, hard enough to make his heart stutter a beat.

“Oh no, Lance,” Hunk rushed out. “You gotta be nice to him. Allura started crying when I wouldn’t hug her.”

“Why _wouldn’t_ you hug Allura? She’s an angel.”

“Because we were in the middle of leaving those ruins, the structural integrity of which is not stable!”

Lance rolled his eyes, turning back to Keith. “Oh my god—Keith, c’mon. Get that look off your face.”

He crossed his arms. “I don’t have a look.”

“Gimme your hand then, you big baby.”

Keith shook his head. “No. If you don’t wanna, I don’t wanna.”

“I wanna, come on.”

“No you don’t.”

Lance shrugged widely at Hunk. “Guess he doesn’t love me after all!”

It was like some giant fist plunged into his chest and ripped his heart out. Keith didn’t want to think about _love_ , or its relation to Lance. Whether Keith did—or Lance _didn’t_. God, Lance hated him, didn’t he? Or he would, if he found out that any of the feelings fizzing in Keith were real.

Heat pulsed behind his eyes. His voice was so far removed from how it had ever sounded before. “Why would you say that?”

Lance’s face dropped when he saw Keith’s. Panic lit his features, so sudden it made Keith afraid. “Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn’t—” He looked pleadingly at Hunk. “Hunk, help me, oh my god.”

“Just be nice to him, it’s not that hard!” Hunk said as Allura played with a piece of his hair. “Just awkward…”

Keith swallowed past a lump in his throat. His emotions were stretching in all the wrong ways, twisting him up so acutely there was no way to push down his hurt like normal. This was stupid, this was so stupid. He shouldn’t be crying just because Lance wouldn’t hold his hand. Why would Lance want to?

He shook his head, praying his voice wouldn’t crack. “It’s fine. Your hands probably aren’t as soft as I remember anyway.”

“Quit negging me!” Lance snapped.

He lunged for one of Keith’s hands, but Keith crossed his arms so Lance couldn’t reach them. Lance came at him, yanking at Keith’s elbows. Keith wouldn’t budge. He squirmed away, fighting with Lance every second, until Lance just threw his arms around Keith’s middle and dragged him into a hug.

“How about that?” Lance demanded. “You happy now?”

He dug his forehead into his shoulder. “Only if you are.”

“So happy,” Lance confirmed. “Just out of this world.”

Keith was gonna die from this stupid bug bite, he just knew it. He took a deep breath, willing himself to come down from the emotional roller coaster of this interaction. Lance smelled like sweat and dirt and special Altean suit cleaning soap, which was probably exactly how Keith smelled, but Lance wore it so much better.

“You smell good,” Keith mumbled.

“Thanks.”

“And your eyes remind me of the ocean and my chest gets warm when you smile and I love your laugh.”

“Oh… god.”

Shiro was rubbing his temple like he five minutes into a splitting stress migraine.

“What the hell did I just watch?” Pidge asked incredulously.

“How temporary is temporary?” Hunk asked.

“A pragmatic question.” Coran picked up the statuette. “May I suggest we head back to the elders for some enlightenment on the topic?”

“Yes, maybe they have an antidote,” Lance suggested, voice reedy.

“An antidote,” Keith and Hunk repeated hopefully.

Shiro tilted his head back, wrinkles creasing his forehead. “Let’s go before anybody else gets bit.”

They made their long trek back to the main town, but it seemed to take much less time than the walk in. Maybe it was because they followed a path that had already been cleared

Maybe it was because Lance held Keith’s hand the whole time, and Keith felt like he was walking on air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual, I've already got the rest written, just gotta clean it up, sooo I should be updating weekly until it's all out there.  
> Lemme know how you're liking it! Comments fuel my will to live.  
> You can find me on [tumblr](http://katranga.tumblr.com) if you want.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you all sooo much for the feedback from the first chapter!! I'm so happy you guys are excited for this!  
> Here's another chapter! It was originally going to be longer, but I'm tired and don't feel like editing the rest, so I split it in half. Hence another chapter added to the overall count. This may end up being a theme, since I'm busy and tired a lot of the time.  
> Anyway, please enjoy!

The team returned to city hall, or parliament, or whatever building the Luloix elders worked at. The lounge they gathered in to debrief was decorated with squishy furniture and fluorescent wallpaper, not unlike the jungle. It hurt Keith’s eyes, so he’d buried his face in Lance’s shoulder until Lance made him stop.

Voltron presented the idol without much fanfare, more interested in an explanation than an alliance at this point.

Coran’s explanation had been right, of course. And love bug bites were apparently a common occurrence on Luloi. So common that its inhabitants didn’t see any need for an antidote, or cure, or anything that would lessen its effects.

“We consider it a bonding experience between the two parties,” a Luloix elder explained. Its three eyes stalks undulated gently above their bulbous head. The species was stout and short, with three frog-like fingers on each hand. They didn’t instill Keith with a huge amount of confidence, if he was being honest. 

“That makes sense.” Allura weaved a flower crown on the couch next to Hunk. “We should take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen as a team.”

The Luloix elder smiled. “I’m glad you understand, Princess.” One eye each landed on Keith, curled up with Lance on a spongey loveseat, and Allura, leaning into Hunk. “Some cultures find expressing their true emotions inconvenient, but we have only every welcomed the opportunity to learn more about each other.”

“Of course.” Allura patted Hunk’s chest. “This is nothing we can’t handle, I assure you.”

“How long do we have to handle this?” Keith asked, fingers entwined in Lance’s. His hands  _ were _ as soft as Keith remembered, which he hadn’t hesitated to share with Lance when they first sat down.

“Not long,” the elder assured them. 

“Like a couple hours?” Hunk asked hopefully.

“A few more minutes?” Lance muttered.

“A few suns,” the elder said.

Keith was going to suffer through  _ days _ of blurting out every lovestruck thought that floated into his head? Days of holding Lance’s hand, sitting as close as possible…? Well—maybe that part wouldn’t be the worst thing. Except that neither of them had any say in why this was happening.

The elders left them to prepare for the diplomacy meeting, which should cement their alliance.

Shiro looked between Keith and Allura with a pained expression. “Allura, will you be okay at the diplomacy meeting?”

Allura delicately placed the completed flower crown on Hunk’s head. “Hm?”

“The diplomacy meeting?” Shiro repeated. “You’ll be able to focus?”

She looked affronted. “Of course.”

Shiro’s shoulders slumped in relief.

Pidge lifted a finger, bouncing on what looked like a exercise ball-sized boba ball. “With Hunk?” she clarified.

“Obviously.”

Shiro pulled a face. “Maybe you should sit this one out.”

Keith frowned. Somebody would have to go with Shiro. As a Blade representative, it certainly  _ could _ be Keith. Which he so didn’t want to do; those meetings were so boring. “Yeah, I’d have to go with Lance, too, so I don’t think we should go to that.”

“Nobody was even thinking of making you go to this,” Lance cut in.

“Coran and I will just go,” Shiro said. “Is that alright, Allura? If you stay here with Hunk?”

Allura swept away a petal that had fallen onto Hunk’s shoulder. “You don’t want to go to the meeting, Hunk?”

“Uh…”

From behind Allura, Shiro frantically shook his head at him. 

“Yeah, can we just hang out here?” Hunk said.

“If that will make you happy,” she allowed, settling back in against him.

His brows drew together. “Oh, but what will make  _ you _ happy?”

“ _ Hunk _ .” Shiro made a cut it out gesture.

“I mean thanks, Allura!” he corrected.

Allura turned to face Shiro, lips pulled down. “The Luloix are a historically easy-going race, I trust you won’t have any difficulty securing their alliance. But if you need my expert negotiating and diplomacy skills, I’ll be here.”

He nodded, chagrined. “Got it, thanks, Allura.”

Shiro and Coran left the room, leaving the rest of them to their own devices. Pidge immediately had plans.

Pidge propped her chin on her hand, still bouncing. “What’s your favourite thing about Lance, Keith?”

Keith frowned while he took a moment to think about it. Lance rolled his eyes. 

“My favourite thing about Hunk,” Allura cut in, even though Pidge was trying to make fun of Keith, not her. “Is his eyes.”

“That’s great,” Hunk said. “You uh… also have nice eyes.”

Allura grinned at him.

Pidge turned back to Keith. “So?”

Keith thanked god Allura had jumped in first, because Keith was about to get mushy as hell and say his favourite thing about Lance was his  _ compassion _ . Like a lovesick fool. He had to watch himself—if his actual feelings for Lance slipped out and didn’t match Allura’s, he wouldn’t have an explanation.

“Eyes,” Keith blurted in agreement. “Yeah, his eyes.”

Lance huffed. “Seriously?  _ That’s _ what you’re going with? What about my muscles? What about my hair?”

“What about your smile?” Keith countered. “What about your chin? Your shoulders? Your legs? Your—”

Pidge bubbled over with laughter while Lance’s eyes grew rounder and rounder.

Keith covered his mouth, mumbling into his palms. He glared at the both of them. “You asked!”

“What do you mean my  _ shoulders _ ?” Lance muttered in confusion.

He shrugged, reaching out. “They’re good, I dunno—”

“What, you gonna feel up my shoulders?” Lance eyed Keith’s hands inches away from him.

“Hey, you wanna fucking fight me, Lance?” Keith slammed back down into the couch, tucking his hands under his armpits with a pout.

“C’mon, Lance, be nice,” said Hunk, Keith’s one shining beacon of hope. Why couldn’t Keith have gotten a magic space crush on him? Allura had lucked out. “We should be using this as a bonding experience, like the Luloix do. Lance, say something nice about Keith.”

Keith took that back. Hunk was not helping.

Because now that the idea was out there, Keith desperately needed for Lance to something— _ anything _ —nice, because he’d been acting so annoyed. Was Lance mad at him? It wasn’t Keith’s fault this bug bite made him needy and insecure.

Keith turned to Lance expectantly.

Lance rolled his eyes, groaning. “Ugh, you’re a really good pilot.”

“And?” Pidge prompted with a shit-eating grin.

“He’s got nice eyes, too, okay? Everybody here has very nice eyes, I think that’s been established.”

Keith tucked his flushed cheeks against Lance’s shoulder. “Thank you. And you know, you’re a really good strategist, and your long-range shooting is a real asset to the team.”

And then he bit his lip, because that was enough! That was enough compliments. All Allura had mentioned was Hunk’s freaking eyes, Keith did not need to list every single aspect that he admired about Lance.

Luckily Lance didn’t notice anything amiss. He tossed an arm around Keith’s shoulders, which made his heart  _ melt _ . Lance puffed his chest out. “Nice to know someone appreciates my brilliance.”

Pidge snorted. “He’s high on a love bug bite. I wouldn’t take anything he says too seriously.”

And Lance deflated a little, brow clouding.

Not on Keith’s watch.

“You don’t agree, Pidge?” Keith asked before he could stop himself. “That Lance is an important part of the team?”

She gaped at him, like she hadn’t expected him capable of forming coherent thought. “I mean, yeah, obviously he is. That’s not what I meant.”

Lance perked up, making Keith smile in satisfaction.

Pidge huffed. “This is exhausting.”

“Yeah no shit,” Keith said.

Lance snorted, and they shared an amused glance.

They could be partners. It was at the tip of Keith’s tongue, begging to break free. They didn’t have to argue all the time. They could be in sync, work together. Lance could keep holding Keith in his arms after the bug bite’s effects wore off.

Keith squeezed Lance’s fingers instead.   
  


After the successful diplomacy meeting, they had dinner with a host of Luloix leaders. 

Keith spent the meal carefully measuring his actions, only letting his love-bug instincts take over when he saw Allura do it first. He refused to let a dumb chemical reaction in his brain make him look like a fool.

Whenever Allura scooped food onto Hunk’s plate, Keith would refill Lance on whatever he was gorging himself on.  Lance kept looking at Allura, then back at Keith, back and forth as the two of them fawned over the object of their affections. Keith had this desperate urge to get that pinched expression off Lance’s face, but nothing had worked so far.

The Luloix across the table turned to Keith after Allura had finished raving about Hunk. “And what new things have you learned about the red paladin today?”

Keith opened his mouth. Closed it. Allura had been asking Hunk stuff all day, like his favourite food and books and what he missed most about Earth. Keith knew all that about Lance already, and didn’t want to bother him further, so he hadn’t bothered asking. 

Lance scoffed. “Nothing. All he wants to do is cuddle.”

Keith self-consciously scooted his chair away, since he’d been pressed up against his side. “If you don’t want me around—”

“I didn’t say that—”

“I keep offering you space—”

“Don’t cry again, please—”

“I’m not,” Keith snapped. He curled in on himself, wishing he was tucked in Lance’s side. Wanting to grab him by the collar just to shut him up.

Shiro’s strained voice cut in, “ _ Lance _ .”

“I didn’t do anything,” he complained.

“He didn’t,” Keith mumbled into his knees.

“ _ Thank  _ you, Keith.” He heard rather than saw Lance rolling his eyes.

Keith’s chair was yanked across the floor back in Lance’s direction. Keith flailed, and Lance grabbed his hand to steady him. He placed that arm around his shoulders. For a second, Keith was comforted by the Lance-initiated proximity. 

Then Lance rolled his eyes at the Luloix leaders who’d been closely following their outburst. “Sorry, you know how it is.”

Keith jerked away, Irritation coloured with shame pulsing in his throat. 

“Sorry, did I embarrass you?” he asked coldly before stalking out of the room. 

How was he ever going to live this down? It hadn’t even been a full day yet, and he was already drained. He couldn’t keep throwing tantrums he didn’t mean. It was exhausting.

Footsteps followed him within seconds. His heart beat with hope as he looked over his shoulder—but it was just Shiro.

“ _ No _ ,” Keith said vehemently, and kept stomping down the hall.

Shiro caught up with him easily. “Please just talk to me.”

“He thinks  _ I’m _ embarrassing?” It blew out of Keith without his permission. He struggled to keep his volume below a shout. “I’m embarrassing myself! This is horrifying, Shiro. And all I want—” He shook out his fist, unclenching. Hitting the wall wouldn’t help him, it would only give him bruised knuckles. “ _ God _ , the only thing that’s gonna make me feel better is crawling into his arms. How do they not have a cure for this, like how in the everliving fuck?” He scraped his nails through his hair. “How am I supposed to do this for days? How am I not gonna let slip…?”

Shiro grabbed him shoulder. “Breathe, Keith.”

He took in a deep, shuddering breath. “I  _ hate _ feeling like this,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“You felt like this before.”

He shook his head. “Before I just wanted him, now I need him.” A second after the words processed through his brain, he groaned. “I’m gonna die, Shiro, I’m gonna fucking die.”

He waited until Keith was looking him in the eye. “You’re not gonna die,” he said gently. “Just be honest with him, as honest as you can. I’ll speak with him, make sure he’s considerate—”

Keith fisted his lapels. “Don’t you dare. Do not talk to Lance about this. He can’t be…” 

Upset. Guilty. Annoyed. Informed of Keith’s true feelings.

“Okay,” Shiro agreed. “If you’re sure—”

“I am.”

“Then just know I’m here for you, okay? If you need to talk.”

Keith nodded. Kept his next question bottled up tight for a good five seconds. “Did Lance not want to come after me himself? Don’t answer that.”

“I told him to give you some space,” Shiro replied anyway. “Do you want me to get him?”

“No.” He wanted Lance to  _ want _ to make sure Keith was okay after the way he stormed out. But Keith was always storming out, wasn’t he? He’d matured a little since they first arrived in space, but he was still running from his problems. It’s why he joined the Blade in the first place. Tiredly, he asked, “Can I just go back to the castle? We’re leaving soon, right?”

Shiro’s hand came up to scratch the back of his neck. “We’re gonna stay planetside until the love bug effects wear off, in case there are any complications.”

“Like me  _ dying _ ?” Keith asked dramatically.

“What, like you liking me is gonna kill you?” Lance asked, rounding the corner.

A smile jumped to Keith’s face until he tamped it down with a scowl. He trotted over to slip his fingers through Lance’s. “How long have you been listening?”

“I just walked up, chill. Are you okay?”

“Now I am— I mean no.” He swung their hands in between them. “We’re staying here until me and Allura are back to normal.”

“That’s awesome!” Lance’s face lit up, the sight of which raised Keith’s spirits just a little. “C’mon, you’d rather be back in that stuffy castle ship?”

“I’d rather go back to the Blade.”

Lance’s grin shrunk to a frown before he smoothed his expression out. He tried to let go of Keith’s hand, but Keith wouldn’t let him.

“No way,” Shiro said, crossing his arms. “Did you not hear the Luloix talking about the separation anxiety that comes with the bite? You’re not going anywhere. We’ll call Kolivan after dessert.”

Returning to the Blade right now was more a far-flung dream than a real plan. Actually considering getting into a pod and returning to the Blade sent a lurching wrongness through his stomach. He wouldn’t be getting far from Lance without the bug bite revolting. 

He did not want to explain any of that to Kolivan.

Keith scowled, hanging off Lance. “Do we really all have to call him?”

Shiro sighed. “Fine, I’ll just call him. Lance, continue keeping an eye on him.”

Shiro went back to the dining hall, leaving them alone.

“Kinda hypocritical,” Lance started flatly.

“Huh?”

He looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “That you got upset because you thought I was embarrassed of you when you’re obviously mortified that you suddenly like me.”

He flushed. “ _ I’m _ embarrassed of  _ me _ , we both are.”

Lance turned to face him fully. “No, you just hate that you can’t stop complimenting me.  _ I _ was the one looking like an asshole making you cry—”

Keith wrenched his hand out of his hold. “I wasn’t crying—”

“Whatever, I still looked like a dick.”

“You’re not a dick. If the roles were reversed, you’re acting exactly how I would act—”

“So like a  _ dick _ ,” Lance said pointedly.

Silence stretched as Keith gathered every speck of resolve to glare at him. 

Meanwhile, his thoughts were racing. Lance thought Keith was a dick, Lance hated him, he hated every last second of having to spend time with him. 

The thoughts swirled and attacked, gaining velocity until his vision grew blurry. He spun away before Lance could catch sight of the tears falling.

“Yeah,” drew out of Keith’s throat in a ragged exhalation. He forced his feet to move away from him Lance, because like fuck would Keith let him watch him breakdown like a child. Lance would feel guilty, because he was a good person, and he’d comfort Keith even though he hated him. Not that it mattered. This chemical reaction was just making his heart hurt thinking that Lance would never want anything to do with him.

“Where are you going?” Lance asked.

Without turning around, Keith flipped him off with a shaking finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Keith and Lance be able to power through their miscommunication and hurt feelings? Tune in next time to find out! (I will try to get another chap up during the week instead of next weekend since I cut this chap in half but no promises).  
> Lemme know what you thought!


	3. Chapter 3

In the world’s least surprising turn of events, Keith returned to the castle to beat the shit out of training bots. Tears mixed with sweat on his overheated face as he fought off bot after bot, but more kept coming. Soon enough, focusing on anything other than the fight would end in failure. Thoughts of Lance were replaced by strategic planning on the quickest way to take out the enemy. The  _ thunk _ of his sword against metal took over his thunderous heartbeat in his ears.

He finished with a high score. His first instinct was to brag about it to Lance.

With a frustrated grunt, Keith kicked the last bot in the stomach, sending it flying across the mat.

“There you are.”

He jumped at the sound of Allura’s voice. 

He turned to find her standing in the doorway. Wiping his forehead on his arm, he asked, “You need something?”

“We’ve been looking for you,” Allura said like it was obvious.

“Where else would I be?”

“There’s an entire planet to explore.” She waved her fingers to indicate the great expanse of Luloi. “But Lance figured you’d be here.”

Keith shoved down the giddiness brought on by Lance knowing exactly where he’d be, because, “He didn’t wanna find me himself? Don’t answer that.”

She tilted her head at him and said dryly, “He said it didn’t work out too well last time.”

His throat caught. Right. How could Keith expect Lance to keep running after him whenever Keith threw a tantrum?

“Hey.” Allura crossed the room to stand in front of him. “Lance didn’t seem too happy about whatever happened. You know he just wants to be friends, right?” she asked gently.

“I… I guess.” Sometimes Keith believed that. Sometimes he thought they  _ were _ friends, which wasn’t enough and too much at the same time.

Allura laid a hand on his shoulder. “Keith, it’s annoying to blurt out your feelings and have your happiness dependent on one person. I’m right here with you. But Hunk has been more than accommodating, and Lance would be happy to make you more comfortable, if you let him.”

Keith shook his head, sweaty bangs sticking to his forehead.

“You don’t get it. You don’t—”  _ want to make out with Hunk _ . 

Allura hadn’t been fantasizing about the curve of Hunk’s grin since she’d met him. She hadn’t carefully catalogued every one of their interactions, either cherishing or agonizing over each moment Hunk looked at her. She hadn’t left the team because she couldn’t handle the enormity of what Hunk made her feel.

“I know you two aren’t always on the best of terms,” Allura said when Keith didn’t continue. “But acting like it’s the end of the world to admit you appreciate him won’t improve that relationship.”

The nerve she hit stung worse than the bite on his neck. 

Keith shook her off. “I don’t remember asking, Allura.” 

She lifted a hard eyebrow.

“Sorry,” Keith mumbled, dropping his gaze. Why was it so easy to apologize to Allura when he knew he’d crossed a line, but the same experience with Lance was like pulling teeth? He just couldn’t  _ lose _ to Lance. “‘M not in a good mood.”

“Feeling like you want to crawl out of your skin?” Allura asked, annoyingly knowing. “I’m sure you don’t need my insight to figure out why. You’re coming back soon, though?”

He shook his head. “I’ll sleep in the castle.”

“Really? Because Lance is with the rest of the team, where the Luloix have offered us a suite at their best hotel in the city.” Her shoulders drooped. “And you’ll only be with us a few days before you go back to the Blade, Keith.”

“I’m tired,” he said, instead of spilling how much he wanted to return with her. He wanted to curl up next to Lance on the couch, maybe get him to stroke his hair, and Keith could fall asleep on his shoulder. His heart pulsed with wanting.

_ “Really _ ?” she drew out. “You really don’t want a big hug from Lance right now?”

“Quit trying to relate to me,” he retorted with no fight left in him. “I’m going to shower.”

She rolled her eyes.. “Uh huh. See you in…” She tilted her head in consideration. “Twenty minutes.”

 

She was wrong.

It took him a whole hour to trudge back into town, skin buzzing with  _ where’s Lance?where’s Lance?where’s Lance?where’sLance? _

God, was this getting  _ worse _ ? Or did his real crush on Lance concentrate the effects of this stupid bug bite?

Keith just needed to see him. Maybe say goodnight. Maybe ask for a goodnight hug.

He hesitated outside their shared suite. Glossy glass doors showcased a common area, where Allura directed Hunk to sit on the floor in front of her so she could braid his hair. Pidge sat on the ground of her own accord, fiddling with some machine with Coran. Shiro scrolled through his holopad in a bulbous chair that looked both too big and too small for him. 

Lance stretched across the couch, mouth flapping with words Keith couldn’t hear. The sight of him made Keith want to rush through the doors and toss himself across him. Lay his head on his chest and listen to Lance’s heart under his cheek.

Even though it was unfair to demand this of Lance, who probably didn’t actually hate him, but—maybe despised him? At the very least, was annoyed with him, and that could easily boil over into hate if Keith didn’t leave him alone.

But Keith didn’t want to be alone. Even beyond the stupid bug bite—he was on his own enough with the Blade. He missed this team.

Lance glanced Keith’s way and stopped talking mid-sentence. His brow creased, and he mouthed,  _ what are you doing, weirdo? _

Keith shrugged.

He rolled his eyes and waved him in.

“Glad you could join us,” Allura said as Keith plopped onto the arm of the couch Lance occupied. “Do you want me to teach you how to do a crown braid?”

“Not really.”

Hunk grinned. “Do you wanna sit in front of me and I can braid your hair?” Keith shook his head. Hunk went on undeterred. “My sisters always made me be part of their braid trains. They cried when I got lice in seventh grade and my mom shaved off all my hair.”

“I think I’d cry too,” Allura muttered, focused on twining Hunk’s hair through her fingers. “It’s nicer than mine.”

“No it’s not,” three of them dissented. Because you didn’t have to be bitten by a love bug to love Allura.

She yanked a lock of Hunk’s hair too hard and he winced. “Whoops, sorry.”

_ Sorry _ . Keith sure felt sorry for whatever happened in the hallway with Lance. He could force out an apology, with this love bug pushing at his back, right?

Keith tapped his ankle, drawing Lance’s attention away from Pidge and Coran’s technobabble.

“Sorry,” Keith said, quiet enough not to interrupt the room’s other conversations.

“For what?” Lance asked. His expression was closed off, devoid of the easy good nature Keith was so accustomed to. It threw him off.

“Um… Whatever I said? I kinda forget already.” He picked at a thread on his sleeve. “It definitely ended in you calling  _ me _ a dick, so maybe you should be the one apologizing, but... whatever.” He crossed his arms over the heavy weight in his stomach, letting the next words fall out of his mouth without a fight. “It just doesn’t feel good having you mad at me.”

Lance sat up out of his leisurely slouch. “I’m not mad at you. My plan in the hall was to apologize for making you feel bad, but you always gotta argue with me about everything.”

“No I don’t.”

A grin cracked through his facade like lightning. With a laugh, he yanked Keith’s arm, drawing him onto the cushion. He tossed his feet onto Keith’s lap, saying, “You’re a fucking idiot.”  

Keith’s shock was quickly replaced with a disbelieving fizziness that rose in his chest. He wiggled closer until Lance’s arm was around his shoulders and his knees were bent over his lap. He breathed in his scent, letting a contented warmth flood his system from being wrapped up right where he was supposed to be. All the nervous energy plucking at his strings fled, replaced by the comfort of Lance.

After a moment, Keith looked up, expecting a snarky comment from Pidge. He caught the tail end of a stern look from Shiro directed at Pidge, who closed her open mouth.

He buried his face against Lance’s shoulder smugly. “I missed you.”

Lance snorted in his hair. “You’re the one who stormed off, weirdo.”

“Yeah.” He found Lance’s hand and twined his fingers through his. “Won’t be doing that again.”

Of course, once everyone went to bed, Keith didn’t really have a choice.

“Night!” Lance said, all chipper as he dropped Keith off in front of his room. A whine threatened to scrape Keith’s throat.

“Wait.” Keith kept hold of Lance’s hold when he tried to let go.

“Yeah?”

Keith watched Allura and Hunk hug goodnight, and each split into their own room. Allura wasn’t demanding to spend the night with Hunk.  _ Her _ body wasn’t thrumming to let the soft beating of his heart lull her to sleep. 

Keith gulped down asking for anything more. “Nothing, Lance. Goodnight.”

After one last wave goodbye, Lance slipped through his own doorway five feet away.

With leaden feet, he entered his room alone. It was decked out in alien luxury that he didn’t bother trying to decipher before he tucked himself into bed.

His goal was to fall asleep as fast as possible so he wouldn’t get the weird full-body separation anxiety he got when he’d avoided Lance after dinner. It was unnecessary to bother Lance with asking if they could sleep in the same bed. Lance didn’t want him. He knew that. Lance kept watching Hunk and Allura, probably jealous that Allura hadn’t seen him first instead of Hunk. If Allura was in Keith’s place, Lance would be over the moon, Keith was sure.

The longer Keith laid alone in the overly comfortable alien bed, the more his chest ached with longing, and his body screamed that something was missing. That  _ Lance _ was missing.

Keith got all the way to the door before he caught himself. He sunk to the floor to keep himself from leaving, berating himself for not being stronger than these chemicals overreacting in his brain. He didn’t  _ need _ to be with Lance all night.

And Lance would probably say no anyway. He was so happy to say goodnight to Keith and get rid of him for a solid eight hours. Being tied to Keith was making him so miserable. Keith kept bothering him and making him uncomfortable—

Keith didn’t ask his feet to take him to Lance’s hotel door, but they did.

And then he was knocking.

The door slid open before Keith could beat a hasty retreat.

Lance rubbed his eyes. God, he looked so cute when he was tired. “Keith?” he asked, voice rough with sleep.

“Sorry,” he blurted. “For waking you up. And for being annoying today. I know you don’t want me around all the time, but I can’t help it. I’m sorry. Don’t be mad.”

Lance yawned hugely, not bothering to cover his mouth. “Dude, seriously? Drop the act.”

“What act?” His heart still hurt, like it was squeezed into a panini press. 

“You weren’t bit by that bug.”

“What?”Keith gulped past a tight throat and pointed at his neck. “You saw the bite. It looks just like Allura’s.”

“It looks like any bug bite,” Lance argued. “The heart’s not that distinct.”

“Why else would I be acting like this?” he scream-whispered, conscious of the late hour.

Could Lance tell Keith actually liked him? Was that why he was so annoyed? Because his real crush was obvious and Lance was so flatly uninterested?

But Lance came out of left field. “To get out of doing stuff. You got out of that diplomacy meeting just because Allura did, and you got out of calling Kolivan. You’re just acting like this because it’s convenient.”

“You think the way I feel about you is convenient?” Keith hissed.

He made a huge show of rolling his eyes. “You’re just copying what Allura does around Hunk. And dude, if you wanna pull one over on everybody, that’s fine, just make sure I get something out of it too—”

“No.” He shook his head. “No, if you think—I don’t  _ want _ to be doing this. I’m a defender of the universe. I was the black paladin, I’m in the Blade of Marmora. I’m better than—”

Bitterness sprouted on Lance’s lips. “Than me?”

“—throwing myself at— _ what _ ?” He pushed past him into the room. “Fuck off, Lance. I’m talking.” 

Lance threw his hands up, letting one hit the the door close switch so they could argue at a normal volume. “Oh yeah, come right in.”

“Look, I’m sorry I got the crush on you instead of Allura, but you’re gonna have to deal with it.” He crossed his arms, hiding his heart. “I get that it sucks that the girl you actually like isn’t the one to temporarily fall for you but—”

“I don’t like Allura,” Lance cut in. “Not like that.”

“Oh?” A pressure eased inside his ribs, just a little.

“Not for a while. Thanks for paying attention.”

He scowled. “How am I supposed to keep track?”

“Try asking me shit, like Allura keeps doing with Hunk?”

Keith sucked his teeth. He listed off on his fingers, “Your favourite food is your mom’s  _ ropa vieja _ , followed by anything Hunk makes. Your favourite book is a history of aerodynamic flight because it made you want to become a pilot. You have scars on your elbows from using Heelys when the laces were tied together and you fell on the sidewalk. You—”

Lance waved his hands wildly. “How do you know that?”

Keith flung himself onto Lance’s bed and immediately buried his face in Lance’s pillow. “You talk a lot. I like your voice.”

He hoped Lance hadn’t heard that second part.

“What are you doing now?” Lance’s voice squeaked. 

“Sleeping.”

“That’s  _ my _ bed,” he said incredulously.

If Lance thought he was missing out, then Keith was more than happy to give him the full, horrifying love bug experience. “This is what I want.” 

The moment stretched. This was where it could all turn sour, where Lance could announce he didn’t care whether or not Keith was bitten, there was no way that Lance was sleeping with him. 

Keith kept his face in the pillow, unwilling to watch the change in Lance’s face that would destroy his heart. So dramatic, he was being  _ so _ dramatic. Lance had no reason to agree to humour Keith like this. He had every right to kick him out. It was still going to hurt like hell.

“Are you just doing this to prove a point?” Lance finally asked.

“Yeah,” Keith admitted. “I was—” Lance yanked the pillow out from under his face. With a sigh, Keith sat up, knees pulled to his chest. “I was trying not to bother you by suffering alone in my room, but if you’re gonna be a prick about it, you can suffer, too.”

“Suffering? Like how?” he asked, still standing.

“I dunno… I’m just thinking way too much, and it’s bad, and my chest is tight and everything is… off-kilter unless you’re around. I just… wanna be with you,” Keith mumbled into his knees.

“Why do you that?” he pointed. “Why is it the end of the world to say something nice about me?”

“Because it’s out loud and people can hear it.”

“That’s usually how talking works,” he retorted. “Do you hate people knowing you care about me that much?”

Keith pressed his lips together.  _ You don’t want to know how much I care about you _ was at the tip of his tongue, jumping to get into the open. Instead he forced out, “I care about you. But me liking your eyes or arms or— _ whatever _ isn’t relevant, especially when I’m gonna get made fun of for it.”

Lance fluttered his lashes. “Do you  _ really _ like my eyes?”

“Fuck it,” he huffed, pushing off the mattress for the door.

Lance caught his wrist. “C’mon, I’m not making fun of you.”

“Then what are you doing?” He tugged out of his grasp, despite the touch sending a rush of serotonin through him. “This isn’t easy for me, okay? Expressing emotions, connecting with other people. It’s awkward, this is all so awkward.” He groaned. “Can I sleep in your bed or not?”

Lance snorted. A rainbow of feeling passed over his face; amusement and remorse and something Keith hoped was desire for an earnest connection. “I know it’s awkward. But if you know me so well, you should know my go-to move for breaking tension is cracking a joke. I’m trying to help.” He paused, then said, “Stay the night, if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Really?”

Lance dug into his closet and pulled out a pair of sweatpants. “Just put on some pajamas, dude. Nobody can sleep in denim.”

Keith grinned. “Thank you.”

He shook his head, bangs falling into his eyes. “Smiling’s a good look on you, Keith. Weird, but good.”

Keith snatched the pants from Lance without replying.

Lance crawled into bed, and Keith joined him after changing into the sweatpants. He laid down flat, satisfied with simply sharing his body heat for two seconds, before shifting closer. And closer. Until he was flush with Lance’s back.

“Keith?” Lance asked expectantly.

“Yeah?”

“Did you wanna cuddle?”

“Yeah.”

He sighed. “Big spoon or little spoon?”

“I’ll let you pick.”

“Oh gee, thanks,” Lance mumbled dryly, but he was already reaching around to take Keith’s hand. He tugged it until it was tucked against his chest and Keith was cradling Lance in his arms. Keith smiled into the back of Lance’s neck.

“Comfortable?” Lance muttered.

“Mm hm,” Keith hummed. His heart rate evened out. Every cell and spark that had been itching at him all night settled into a soft delight. Lance was warm and solid in his arms, their legs tangled. Keith almost wanted to stay up all night to fully revel in it.

“Goodnight,” Lance said. “You better have been bitten by that bug, I swear to god.”

Keith squeezed Lance to his chest. “I was. Goodnight, Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all your lovely feedback! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter :D  
> This is a bit of a turning point for Lance, so there's a lot more fluff in the next chapter, so you can breathe easy for now!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your comments!! I really do appreciate them, even if I can't always reply. I love hearing what you guys are thinking about the story :)  
> Anyway, here's what you signed up for: lots of fluff!

Keith woke slowly the next morning wrapped up in the warmth of Lance. He barely restrained squeezing him tighter in his arms, closer to his heart beating out of his chest. He couldn’t handle the vulnerability of holding a sleeping Lance for long, so Keith slipped out from under the covers to bring Lance breakfast in bed.

He went to the kitchenette off of the shared living room, which was fully stocked with food. Allura must’ve had the same love bug-induced idea, because she was grimacing at some root vegetables, clearly trying to figure out how to make them into a meal.

“Morning, Allura.”

She grunted. Her silver hair was up in a messy bun, loose strands falling in her face.

“You okay?” Keith asked, poking through the fridge for a fruit-like food.

She nodded and leaned against the counter, hiding a yawn behind her hand. “How are you not as exhausted as I am?”

“Why are you exhausted?”

“I couldn’t sleep without Hunk.” She crossed her arms. “I couldn’t get any work done either, because all I could concentrate on was how much I missed him, even though he was just in another room. Didn’t you feel the same?”

Keith placed a shiny cubed fruit on the counter. “Uh, I did, yeah.”

She pouted. “And?”

Keith’s brows rose like he didn’t understand the implied question. “Hm?”

“How did you manage to sleep?”

“I uh… went to Lance. He let me spend the night.”

“Oh.” She blinked.

Keith held his breath. Would she say that was inappropriate? Would she ask why he didn’t hold off like her? He could’ve stayed in his room— _should_ have, but he wanted to cuddle with Lance. So badly. And _she_ was the one who said to make this work! That would be his excuse—

“I’m impressed, Keith… I suppose I should have done that,” Allura said, before returning to trying to prepare a breakfast.

Keith released that breath.

He sliced a few fruits, which Allura decided to do as well instead of dealing with vegetables this early in the morning. They found some pink substance in the fridge that maybe sort of could be yogurt, and after confirming that everything in the fridge was edible, they sprinkled some granola-like chips on it, along with the fruit.

“This is a common Earth breakfast?” Allura asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the bowl.

“As close as we can get when we’re a gazillion light years away,” Keith confirmed.

Lance had talked about how often he’d make parfaits at home because his mom would buy ungodly amounts of yogurt whenever it was on sale. The way he told it, his family’s fridge would be stocked with so many tubs of yogurt that they’d all be forced to eat them to keep them regular.

Keith frowned. “Now that I’m thinking about it, he might not actually like this.”

“Do you want me to help you make something else?”

He chuckled. “What would you suggest?”

Allura opened her mouth, but nothing came out. “Okay. I will admit that I’m not a chef. Do you want me to fetch Hunk? His culinary expertise is something to be admired—”

He cut her off before she could gush anymore. He could feel his own speech about how great Lance was bubbling up in response to hers. “It’s fine. If I take any more time, Lance won’t be getting breakfast in bed anymore.”

She nodded. “I’m happy to see you’re in a better mood than yesterday.”

“Yeah…” He dropped the cutting board in the sink. He could barely connect how upset he was last night to the lightness in his chest now. “I guess I just needed some time. Thanks for uh… putting up with me.”

“Of course. And thanks for the idea.” She hid another yawn. “I might try to nap with Hunk until we leave for town. In his big strong arms.” A smile fell across her lips, gaze going soft.

“I got to spoon Lance last night,” Keith said before it occurred to censor himself. “He smells so good.”

Maybe Lance would spoon Keith tonight, and he’d nose his hair. And kiss him behind the ear. And—

“What’re you two doing up this early?”

Keith shook himself out of his daydream to find Shiro staring at him and Allura, both staring off into nothing.

“Breakfast,” Keith blurted. He scooped up the bowls he’d prepared for himself and Lance and made a beeline for the exit.

Allura gave a more composed answer and glided out of the room.

Shiro grabbed Keith’s elbow on his way past. “Hey. How’re you holding up, bud?”

“Fine,” Keith said immediately. “Totally good. Gotta go, I got breakfast—”

“Really? You’re not _dying_?”

Keith glared at him.

“Look, I know you don’t want to talk about your feelings for Lance—”

“And yet you try.” He tried to pass him.

Shiro jerked him back. “Hey. You’re in a compromised state right now. You look happier than I’ve ever seen you one second and devastated the next, and it’s all dependent on Lance—”

“I can handle it,” Keith insisted, regretting opening up to Shiro more with every second.

Shiro wasn’t wrong; Keith’s feelings on the situation had totally flip-flopped between today and last night, and the only difference was Keith’s perception of how Lance felt about him. But talking to Shiro wasn’t going to help anything, and an impatient itch that cried for Lance was crawling through his system.

“Nice to see you can still lie…” Shiro said dryly. His eyes narrowed. “Are those Lance’s sweatpants?”

Keith opened his mouth. Paused. “We may have slept in the same bed last night.” He spread his hands, nearly flinging yogurt on the walls. “But it’s fine!”

Shiro scrubbed a hand over his face.

Keith used that distraction to twist away and escape. “It’s all fine, Shiro. See you later!”

He returned to Lance’s room. Lance was still sleeping, arm flung across the empty space Keith had left and mouth hanging open on the pillow.

Keith shook his head. Cute.

He moved Lance’s arm back to his side of the bed and sat against the headboard, eating his own makeshift parfait. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. It had been almost a day with the bug bite, and the hardest part was nighttime, which wasn’t so bad once he forced Lance to share a bed with him—and that was really Lance’s fault anyway, for accusing him of copying Allura.

If Keith just did the same stuff as yesterday, nobody would have any reason to suspect he actually liked Lance.

Except Shiro, but his nosy ass knew about his feelings before this.

Lance stretched out on the mattress, blinking a few times before looking up at Keith. He startled. “What’re you doing?”

“Eating,” Keith said.

“Why?”

“I’m hungry?”

“Why’re you eating in my bed next to me while I’m sleeping?”

“Uh…” It hadn’t occurred to Keith to do anything else. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

Lance pushed himself to a seated position. “So why aren’t you eating in the kitchen?”

“I wanted to be with you?” Keith’s cheeks lit. He wordlessly passed Lance the second bowl.

He lifted a brow. “You brought me breakfast in bed?”

“Allura was doing the same thing for Hunk,” Keith defended.

He rolled his eyes. “Allura. Right.”

Keith grabbed for the bowl. “If you’re just gonna call me a liar—”

Lance jerked back, cradling the bowl to his chest. “No take-backs!”

Keith let him keep it, frowning into his own breakfast. A simple thank you would’ve sufficed, but no, Lance had to act like he didn’t even want it first.

“God, how are you moodier now that you’ve got this huge crush on me?”

“It’s the bug bite!”

Lance laughed, mouth huge and full of alien yogurt. “I dunno, I still think you’re getting something out of this. I bet you wouldn’t be singing my praises if it would get you into cleaning duty.”

“You think I don’t wanna do cleaning duty with you?”

“No one wants cleaning duty.”

“I’d do clean with you,” he grumbled. Which gave him an idea. That would totally piss Lance off, but further prove Keith’s point that everything he was doing was just because of this stupid bug bite.

“Wait, is this supposed to be a parfait?” Lance asked, already halfway through the bowl. “Did Hunk make this?”

“No, I did.”

“Why?”

He huffed. “Because our ingredient options are limited and you said you used to eat it all the time.”

“I said that months ago.”

Keith shrugged, huddling further over his bowl. “Like I said, I listen when you talk. Try it some time.”

“I listen,” Lance argued.

“Then why aren’t you hearing that I was bit by a goddamn bug and it’s a very trying time for me?”

“I’m listening, I just don’t believe you.”

Keith scowled, getting off the bed with his empty bowl. “Whatever.”

Lance sat up straighter. “Where’re you going?”

“I’m telling Coran you volunteered for cleaning duty,” he said flatly, right before the door closed behind him.

He got five steps toward Coran’s door before Lance came stumbling out after him, still in his pyjamas. “Bluff called! You’re not really volunteering us for cleaning duty!”

“I really am! And I’ll have a lovely time because I’ll be with you.”

“No, no, no.” Lance flung himself at him, tossing an arm around his shoulders to pull him close. Keith melted into his side. But he was still set on screwing him over. “Keith, buddy, we got a whole planet to ourselves. We could go shopping. We could see the sights. We could breathe fresh, non-filtered air. We can be doing literally anything other than being trapped a tin can like we’ve been for months on end. Wouldn’t you rather do that? We can hang out all day. That’ll be so much more fun, I promise.”

Keith lifted a brow. “Wow, you really don’t wanna clean today, do you?”

“I’d be so much happier hanging around town today,” Lance said, pulling all the strings he knew to get that love bite to make Keith do what he wanted.

Lance smiled at him winningly. Keith wasn’t even mad.

Keith buried his face in his shoulder. “Fine. We’ll be tourists.”

Lance wrapped him in a tight hug. “God, you’re annoying,” he muttered into Keith’s hair. “And evil. Has anyone ever told you that?”

He nodded into the crook of his neck. “You give such good hugs.” Solid and secure and warm.

“Uh huh. How long is this gonna be now?” Lance asked.

“Little longer,” he mumbled.

Might as well take advantage of the hugs while he could. This bug bite wouldn’t last forever.

 

The team was let loose in the town after each being given a map of local attractions. Lance immediately lost his (“Who uses _paper_ anymore?”), but Hunk managed to lead them to an open air market that seemed to go on for miles. The bright stands varied in size and height, making for an eclectic stroll down the grass-laden paths. They weren’t shouted at to buy wares like some planets they’d been to though; this society didn’t seem to run off capitalism, so it was a chill shopping experience.

Eventually, Coran and Pidge peeled off to a tour of some tech factory, and Shiro, Hunk, and Allura got swept up in a jam-making demonstration. But Lance was happy to keep shopping, and his mood seemed to brighten as they walked around the market hand in hand. Maybe it was because he got his way, maybe it was because him and Keith were hanging out like normal. Except Keith kept offering to buy Lance stuff because it matched his eyes, or he knew he missed something like it on Earth, or Lance had looked at it for more than five seconds. But it was close enough.

Every time they found what they presumed to be a soap stand, they’d try to guess the uses.

Keith picked up a jar of shiny purple goop. “Is this an exfoliater?”

“From how slippery the Luloix skin is, I doubt they need to exfoliate.” Lance leaned in to Keith’s space, scrunching his nose. “Smells good, though.”

“Do you want it?”

Lance laughed. “Do _you_ want it?”

“I don’t know what it is.”

“Exactly.” Lance placed the jar back on the stall and took Keith’s hand instead.

It was really feeling like a date, which it wasn’t, because Lance didn’t like him and the only reason Keith was showing any fondness was due to a bug bite. But that didn’t stop Keith’s heart from fluttering every time Lance’s eyes crinkled with laughter, or he smiled right at Keith like they were alone in the market.

He had to give the Luloix credit, this really might turn into a good bonding experience. It was also incredibly dangerous, in Keith’s unbiased opinion.

A short, jiggly alien bobbled up to them, all three eyes wide. In a high-pitched voice, they announced, “You’re Lover Boy Lance!”

A muscle twitched in Lance’s jaw, but any cringe was pushed aside in favour of engaging his young fan. He crouched down. “That’s me! Paladin of Voltron! What’s your name?”

Despited Keith’s mixed feelings about joining the Blade, he was nothing but grateful that he hadn’t been around for that Voltron show spectacular, or whatever the fuck had gone down when Coran was high off a brain worm. Lance hadn’t ended up loving it either. Nor had Hunk, or the rest of the team, for that matter. But it got the universe to believe in Voltron, so it did its job.

“My friends call me Goose,” they said. They pointed at Keith, whose hand Lance was still holding. “Who’s that? Do you love him?”

“Jesus Christ, kid,” Keith choked out. Now he desperately wanted to hear Lance’s response

Lance bit down a laugh and tugged Keith to a crouch as well. “This is Keith—“

“No, it’s not. Keith is pretty.”

Keith’s eyes rolled skyward.

Lance covered his grin with his fist. “This Keith’s pretty too,” he said easily, like that wasn’t going to make Keith’s head explode.

“Am I?” Keith choked out.

“It’s a compliment,” he waved off, completely misinterpreting the question.

Lance thought Keith was _pretty_? What did that mean, in the context of their friendship? Lance enjoyed Keith’s appearance. He’d said it out loud, and the love bug bite was running away with it, sending Keith floating on flights of fancy.

“Eh, Keith?” Lance ribbed him, and when Keith didn’t respond, lifted a brow.

“Uh, yeah,” Keith said, having tuned out of the last two minute’s of conversation.

His grinned widened, sending Keith impossibly further head over heels. Lance stood up, nodding at the alien named Goose. “Great. Lead the way.”

Keith followed suit. “Huh?”

They followed Goose through the crowd to a small open area that was obviously supposed to resemble a battle arena, but the inflatable steps and rubber rocks made it obvious it was meant for kids.

Currently two forms were sparring with swords the shape of cardboard swords, but high tech. The fighters were clearly Luloix children, but the swords produced a holographic shape around each of them, giving one the translucent guise of Shiro and one the appearance of a Galra soldier.

The Shiro look-alike levelled her sword at the Galra and shouted, “I give you one last chance, foul beast! Leave forever, or you will feel my blade!”

“Never!” The pretend Galra threw his head back and laughed. “You will taste the might of my sword!”

Lance covered his face with his hand as they went at each other. “I really should have fought for better dialogue during those Voltron shows. I feel like such a bad example.”

The first kid jumped behind the Galra and stabbed him in the back. The Galra collapsed with a dramatic cry, gurgling and spasming on the ground until fake Shiro rolled her three eyes. “Come _on_ Vuffie, you’re dead.”

Goose rushed over, waving their arms. “Guys, guys, I found two more! Lover Boy Lance and somebody who used to be Keith!”

They both looked over at Keith and Lance, and then the three of them devolved into a whispered huddle.

A crowd of grown Luloix gathered around Keith and Lance, who thanked them for their service and generally fawned over them. Keith let Lance handle that, and stuck silently to his side.

When he’d been black paladin, it had forced him to be front and centre when the team received attention, but Kolivan took back that duty at the Blade, which Keith was more than okay with. If it was a strategy meeting or a battle, Keith had no problem taking the reins, but there was always someone better around to handle social interactions.

Lance laughed at something one of the Luloix said, enjoying the conversation instead of gritting through it to figure out what exactly the townspeople expected of them, like Keith was.

“The red paladin—or the blue paladin, I’m not sure I have that right,” one Luloix was saying. “The one bit by the love bug, she took down the Hunk in a flash. So graceful.”

Keith finally deduced that the rest of the team had already been rounded up to spar against each other, and now it was Lance and Keith’s turn.

Swords were lined on a rack, ranging through the paladin’s colours, plus two purple swords for the Galra and three other colours, presumably representing other creatures that Lance and the team had fought in their shows.

Goose squeezed between the legs of taller Luloix and thrust the Galra sword at Keith and Lance. “Who wants to lose?”

Keith stared blankly at the purple sword. He hadn’t had a nightmare about transforming into a furry, clawed Galra in a while, but he didn’t want to test his luck. That left the question of what sword he _would_ pick. Picking red seemed like stepping on Lance’s toes, and choosing black felt like squeezing into a skin that had barely fit for a second and was way too tight now.

Lance tugged on his hand. “Mullet, it’s just a game. No need to second-guess your place in the universe.”

Keith spluttered. “I’m not.”

“Can you tell that to your face?” Lance crossed the distance to the sword rack and tossed the red sword at him. He grabbed the blue one and raised his voice to announce to the crowd, “Folks, today you’re in for a treat. A dramatic re-enactment of a battle between allies: that time Keith stole my jacket.”

“I didn’t steal it!” Keith snapped reflexively.

“On guard, fiend!” Lance shouted before running at him, sword ready to strike.

Keith easily slid out of the way and slapped him on the back with the flexible sword. “You’d left it in the lounge—”

“Where I leave a lot of my things,” Lance replied, almost verbatim from their argument so long ago.

It was some time between their first big battle with the Galra and that time Keith and Lance climbed up an elevator in their swim trunks. They were still at each other’s throats—not that Keith’s heart hadn’t gotten the memo. He was agonizing daily over the way his heartbeat spike whenever Lance smiled. He’d grown so much; now he was resigned to a life of silent pining. And fervently denying any other feelings out loud, if this love bug would let him.

“I thought I could trust my teammates—” Lance began dramatically.

“I was cold.” Keith ducked out of his wide swing.

“That doesn’t excuse thievery.” He smacked Keith’s knees before he got a chance to roll away.

Keith ran up a set of foam stairs to gain higher ground. “I gave it back—” The stairs tipped with his weight, sending him jumping to land on the ground on two feet instead of flat on his face.

Lance barked a laugh, running to reach him. “After I caught you, red-handed, wrapped up in my favourite jacket.”

The sleeves were too long, and the hood blocked his eyes, and he’d been drowning in material, but it felt just like what he’d imagined a hug from Lance would feel like.

“It’s your _only_ jacket.” Keith deflected a hit, which sparked a rapid clashing of swords between them.

“Which is why it’s my favourite!”

“Understandable, it looks good on you,” sprouted from Keith’s lips, wildly off-script.

“It looked good on you, too,” Lance said, also ad-libbed.

Keith’s grip faltered. Lance managed to knock the sword out of his hands.

“It was soft,” Keith said. “It smelled like you.”

He dodged left for his sword.

Lance brought his sword down a second too slow. Keith grabbed the hilt and swung around at a crouch, sweeping Lance off his feet. He landed on his back with a thud.

Keith rose and tapped Lance’s chest with the tip of his sword. “Do I win?”

He pursed his lips in thought before he yanked on the sword, jerking Keith on top of him. He flipped over so Lance was grinning down at him, eyes alight. “I think I win.”

Keith fisted his fingers in the grass to stop himself from threading them through Lance’s hair and dragging his mouth down to meet his. “If you say so.”

He smirked and stood, holding out a hand to help Keith up.

“Thank you, thank you,” Lance said in response to the cheers and applause, completely in his element.

They signed some autographs and posed for a few pictures—Lance more so than Keith, but plenty of locals wanted a memento of the pair of them. Lance looked so happy. Not at all weirded out that Keith had mentioned how he smelled for the second time in as many days. Not lightheaded from pinning Keith to the ground twenty minutes ago.

Keith tried not to obsess over how comforting Lance’s weight had been, how right Lance looked at that angle, smirking over him. In essence, he tried his very best not to yearn hopelessly. He failed, but he blamed it on the love bug.

The crowd filtered down; half a dozen Luloix had picked up the swords and a more competitive battle had started and taken their attention.  

Keith was ready to go somewhere they’d attract less attention, but one more Luloix stepped forward. She had a splattering of purple freckles across pale blubbery skin, and a wide smile.

“Welcome to Luloi,” she said. “My name is Ulga. Are you enjoying your stay?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, it’s beautiful and the food is top notch.”

“Good, good. I hope you’ll be joining us at the Celebration of Light tomorrow?”

Keith looked at Lance. Were they supposed to know what that was?

“Of course. The elders said it was a must-see,” Lance answered.

Ulga turned to Keith, plastered to Lance’s side. “You’re the other paladin who’s been bit, is that right?”

“What gave it away?” Lance laughed.

Keith started to pull back, anxious about crowding him, but Lance tightened his grip instead of letting him slink away.

Just then, another alien threw herself at Ulga, tossing an arm around her shoulder and pressing bright flowers to her chest. “There you are, Ulgie. Why do you wander off like that? I was picking you a bouquet.”

“I’m sorry, my love, but you were taking a very long time picking out the prettiest flowers.” Ulga gestured at Keith and Lance. “These are the paladins, Miyky.”

Miyky waved, her three fingers circled with silver rings. She hung off Ulga in a mirror reflection of Keith’s position.

Lance also noticed. “Oh, did you get bit by a love bug, too?”

Miyky rolled one of her eyes. “Yeah. For the third time.”

“Oh my god,” Keith intoned.

“It’s fine,” Miyky sighed. “I imprint on my Ulgie every time.”

“You two do a lot of hiking in the jungle?” Lance asked.

Ulga shook her head. “Mercy, no. Miyky harvests out there all the time, but I’m a librarian.”

Keith’s brow wrinkled. “What happens when she sees someone else before you?”

“Hm?” Ulga said, absently straightening the collar of Miyky’s jacket. “Oh, the bite enhances feelings when they’re strong enough in the bitten, so it doesn’t matter who they lay eyes upon first.”

Well. Now Keith was actually grateful he saw Lance first. If he’d seen anybody else and still ended up infatuated with Lance, he’d have had some serious explaining to do.

Lance’s gaze slid to Keith for half a second. “That’s convenient. Is it all the same though, how people act?”

“Mostly.” Ulga nodded. Her freckles seemed to shift in the sunlight. “It depends largely on how well the bitten knows the object of their affections. If the bitten is in love, they know exactly how to make the other happy.”

Miyky kissed the back of Ulga’s hand. “I always picks her favourite flowers and bake her favourite breads—”

Keith’s stomach dropped. He did not want Lance mulling too hard over that. “Wow, that’s fascinating, it’s been great talking to you. Are there any food trucks around here? I’m so hungry.”

They directed them to a big stall where Lance and Keith were both promptly distracted by a dish that looked like peeled grapes floating in clouds.

 

They all had dinner together, and Keith couldn’t stop himself from comparing his behaviour to Allura’s again. It wasn’t lining up. Well—that wasn’t true. Allura was complimenting Hunk regularly, and Hunk was thanking her politely. What he wasn’t doing was flirting back just as hard, dropping smiles and actively grabbing for her hand, or shoulder, or tugging her closer when she gave him space.

Like… Lance was doing with Keith.

After dinner, they were having what amounted to coffee in a hotel lounge, where Luloix filtered in and out to greet them. Keith and Lance sat on a very squishy chaise in the corner. Lance had taken off his jacket and rolled his sleeves up, so Keith was shamelessly tracing the veins on his forearms while conversation flowed around them.

Lance chuckled and flexed. “I never expected you to be this cuddly.”

Keith had stopped pulling away when Lance voiced anything close to criticism. “I’m not cuddly, I just…”

“Nah, I get it.” Lance leaned back in the saggy couch, making Keith fall further into his chest. “I am irresistible.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Keith smiled into his chest. Lance snorted. He was ready to dissolve into Lance, that’s how comfortable he was. “You, however, are acting a lot more… _believing_ of this whole thing than you were this morning, though.”

“Well maybe I was being a dick,” Lance admitted. “You were really upset in the jungle after I dissed you—”

“Shut up.”

“And last night when you showed up at my door,” he continued like Keith hadn’t spoken. “You’re not that good of an actor.”

He tilted his face up. “Oh, so you believe me now?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Hard not to when I have the great Keith Kogane curled up next to me like a house cat—”

“I’ll show you a house cat—” Keith smacked his chest.

Lance laughed, slipping his fingers easily though Keith’s. “Uh huh. Fight me later, mullet.”

Pidge flung herself onto the chair across from them. “I’m starting to think the Luloix aren’t full of shit and this bug bite thing really is a good way to bond. Proud of you two crazy kids for making it work.”

“Thanks, mom,” Lance said sarcastically.

Keith shot a glare at Pidge, which she ignored.

“I am as well,” Allura said, with none of Pidge’s teasing. She’d walked over with Hunk, whose hand she swung between them. “Obviously I knew Hunk would be as gracious and kind as ever in this endeavour, but you two…”

“Yes?” Lance waved a hand at her to continue.

Her smile faltered under the brunt of Keith’s glare, which he didn’t mean to throw her way, but they’d all interrupted his nice conversation with Lance just to say they were shocked the two were getting along.

“I just mean you two have had your ups and downs,” Allura finished.

“So?” Keith asked flatly.

“So there’s nowhere to go but up!” Hunk filled in helpfully.

“Yes,” Allura agreed. “And I’m glad you two are making the best of it.”

Keith swallowed the bitter taste growing in his throat. Him and Lance were friends, right? Even before he’d left for the Blade? They’d confided in each other, trusted each other. Was it really so astonishing they could get through a day and a half without going for each other’s throats?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lance winked at Keith. “We’ve always made a good team.”

The rush of affection that swelled in Keith’s chest caught him off guard. “Yeah. We have, haven’t we?”

“Oh my god,” Pidge groaned, rolling to her feet. “You guys make me wanna puke. Are they coming out with dessert, or what?”

 

When it was time to part ways for the night, Keith hesitated outside Lance’s door. Just because Lance had agreed last night, doesn’t mean he’d welcome Keith back tonight, especially since they’d spent the full day together. Lance would want space, and Keith _should_ want space too, but he was dreading the looming hours alone in his room.

“You want a sleepover again?” Lance asked, sweeping away Keith’s worries in a moment.

“If you don’t mind.”

He opened the door and waved him in. “I can handle another night of cuddles.”

They got ready for bed together like it was already routine. Keith wore Lance’s sweatpants again, and crawled into bed and laid his had on Lance’s chest. It all felt so natural. Almost like he could stretch up to kiss him goodnight. The urge was strong, but he held back. It wasn’t something he could blame on the love bug bite, and that was the only reason Lance was letting him get this close.

What was he going to do when there was nothing left to blame this aching fondness on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Comments feed my soul!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy! I did the thing again--this chapter is split in two because I did not budget my time efficiently to edit it all in an afternoon. So now it's seven chapters, and you get to see how their night ends in a week. But I figured this was better than nothing.  
> And it's more fluff! So enjoy!

The next day, the team was invited on a guided tour of a history museum prior to the Celebration of Light that evening. Keith didn’t know what the celebration entailed, but he was pretty sure a museum tour couldn’t improve it any.

“The elders said there’d be food,” Lance said that morning. He’d just come out of the bathroom in jeans after a shower. Keith only half-heard him, distracted by Lance’s bare chest as he towelled his hair. “And traditional dance. I don’t think we need to know much more.”

“You’ve really been working out, huh?” slipped out of Keith’s mouth unbidden.

Lance looked up from under his towel. “Huh?”

Keith gave his head a sharp shake. “I said you just love things happening.”

“Not just  _ things _ ,” Lance said, tugging on a shirt. That was for the best. Keith could not be held accountable for what he said in front of a shirtless Lance. “Fun things. Party-like things. With appetizers and dancing and, ooh, maybe there’ll be door prizes.”

Keith grabbed his jacket and replied sarcastically, “Yeah, iPads. Can’t go home without free swag.”

“Beats by Dre,” Lance countered.

“Segways.”

Lance scoffed. “Please, I will accept nothing less than hover boards from my alien hosts.”

Keith laughed. “You're funny.”

“I know this.”

“No, I mean, you’re funny and that’s important.” Keith sat on the bed, lacing up his boots. 

“To who?” Lance asked, confused.

“To me,” Keith said, focusing on his shoelaces. This was the third day of the love bug bite. It wouldn’t last much longer, so he could enjoy it, right? He could drop every compliment he’d never be able to force out otherwise, and make Lance feel as special as he made Keith feel. “I know I was annoyed the other day when you kept cracking jokes about this love bug thing, but I miss your jokes when I’m with the Blade. Every boring thing is a drag, and every bad thing is a nightmare, because no one’s trying to find a bright side.”

Lance didn’t respond immediately. Keith looked up to find Lance looking at him agape. “Uh… I’ve gathered that most people find my ability to make light of serious situations incredibly inappropriate, but I’m glad you appreciate it.”

Keith offered a smile. “Yeah, I mean, mostly. I’ll be grateful for your jokes during this museum tour, I’m sure.”

“Ah, come on.” He grabbed his hand. “It’s space history. I’m sure it’ll be cool.”

 

The museum ended up not being a bore, surprisingly. The exhibits were unlike anything Keith had ever seen, sparkling and immersive with special effects, and he actually learned a lot about Luloix history. That turned out to be helpful, because the celebration that night was heavily referential to how their society had come to be. 

What seemed like the whole town had come out, and sat in an outdoor courtyard at dining tables that circled a large dance floor. Neon topiaries draped in twinkling lights were peppered throughout, offering most of the light other than the stars above. 

The Luloix hosts thanked Voltron for joining them tonight and welcoming them so graciously to the Coalition. After that bit of formality, they encouraged the guests to enjoy the festivities while they awaited the true reason of the night’s celebration—a naturally-occurring colouring of the sky, which seemed to be something like the Aurora Borealis on Earth.

Music started right up, loud and rapturous, and a sea of Luloix migrated to the dance floor. For a moment, Keith was enraptured by a dozen pairs of dancing aliens, throwing their bodies around with a frantic grace.

Then Lance elbowed him, bouncing his eyebrows at him. “You down for a dance?”

“Is that what they’re doing?” Keith replied incredulously. “You sure they’re not summoning a jungle monster?”

He grinned just  _ way _ too charmingly. He stood, offering a hand. “How ‘bout we find out?”

As if Keith could say no. He slipped his hand into Lance’s and followed him onto the dance floor. And just stood there, because he did not know how to dance.

Lance swung their hands. “What, you’re not gonna use this as an excuse to get your hands all over me?”

“I already have an excuse. I was bitten by a—”

He twirled him in a circle. “I heard you,” he assured him. “A hundred times. Do you wanna dance or not?”

Keith took him by the hip and dragged him closer. “Yes.”

“Dancing, Keith, not grinding.”

He flushed. “I’ve never done either. Teach me.”

Lance’s lips twitched. “A ‘please’ would be nice, but okay.” His hips swayed, following the quick rhythm of the music that pounded across the ground. He took hold of Keith’s hips and physically moved them from side to side. He looked at Keith through the bangs that had fallen in his eyes, head still tilted down to his hips. “Can you handle that?”

“Yeah.” Keith sighed, just a little, and brushed Lance’s hair off his forehead. He dropped his hand on his shoulder. “Is that right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. You just gotta move with the beat.”

Keith left Lance in charge of that, letting him move his hips and direct him forward or back. Lance moved with ease, keeping up a constant stream of chatter while taking in the impressive dancers around them.

Comparatively, Keith moved like a robot trying not to step on Lance’s feet. But Lance was close and steady in front of him, and he wasn’t complaining about how bad Keith was at this.

“You alright?” Lance asked after a minute. “I know dancing isn’t really your thing.”

“It’s fine.” Keith waved him off. “I always like spending time with you.”

“Yeah.” He dropped his gaze. “It’s nice having you back for more than a day. We miss you when you’re away with the Blade, you know.”

Guilt swelled in Keith. Lance was one of the reasons he’d left in the first place. Besides pure practicality—they’d had more paladins than lions, while the Blade always needed more members—Lance had needed to be confident in his place on the team. And Keith had needed to get away from Lance, and rid himself of his insufferable, undeniable feelings for him. 

He’d expected it to get easier, every time he came back to visit. Because surely without Lance in his face every day, those feelings would fade? But instead, distance made the heart grow desperately fonder.

“I missed you, too. A lot.” Keith swallowed, trying to steer the conversation somewhere more lighthearted. “Nobody at the Blade is as fun as you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I can’t imagine having to go through this with one of them.”

“Oh my god, right?” Lance tucked his hands under his chin, fluttering his lashes. “ _ Oh, Kolivan, your smile makes my knees weak! Hold me close in your big, strong arms _ ! And then he’s stone-faced telling you to shut up and stab somebody.”

Keith tossed his head back with a laugh. “God, that would be mortifying. You’re being so…” He rubbed his thumb over Lance’s shoulder. “So nice to me. You make it fun. Like always.”

His cheeks lit with a blush. “Are you gonna be embarrassed about all the nice things you said to me when this bug bite wears off?”

“I’m embarrassed  _ now _ ,” Keith admitted. “But I’m convinced you deserve to hear them.”

“You know, I wouldn’t hate if you kept it up after this is over.”

His heart skipped a beat. “I’ll try.”

The smile Lance gave in response would’ve knocked Keith off his feet if Lance weren’t holding him up.

Keith couldn’t remember how he’d ever held back this amount of emotion under a thin veneer of friendly rivalry. The expression written on his face was hopelessly, head over heels for Lance.  He desperately wanted Lance to feel the same way.

And nothing gave Keith any evidence to the contrary—not the softness in Lance’s eyes, or his palm cupping the back of his neck. The ease with which he slipped into the fantasy of Lance liking him back put him in such precarious territory. More dangerous than Keith facing off with Zarkon alone. But what was he supposed to do? Tell Lance not to play games with his heart? It wasn’t supposed to matter.

The song ended, and Keith got them back to the table for food so he wouldn’t have to shoulder the full weight of Lance’s attention. If he got overexposed to it, he knew he’d end up spilling everything he wanted corked tight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Sorry about this later-than-normal chapter. Idk what to say, work's been a pain and I got unmotivated ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> This chapter got angsty at the end, I just couldn't help myself, even though the next chapter is v lighthearted and funny? Boy do I have some work set out trying to smooth out that tonal shift!  
> Anyway, please enjoy!

The night passed in a whir of dancing and laughing with the team, towers of food, and butterflies tickling Keith’s stomach every time Lance smiled at him.

The later it got, the more guests filtered away from the main celebration to a valley located between the main town and the jungle, where they’d be watching the night sky change colour.

The team was on their way over as well when Lance stopped, lifting a finger. “Wait, lemme try to find a blanket or chair or something.”

He jogged off to find a seat to borrow, while the team kept up with the crowd to nail down a good spot to sit. Keith would’ve followed if a small patch of flowers hadn’t caught his eye. He plucked a pink dandelion-thing off the ground, and when he stood up, he almost got knocked over.

“Oh, my apologies!” It was Miyky, half of the couple he and Lance had talked to yesterday about the love bug bite. She was the one experiencing her third bite. She laid a hand on his arm when she recognized. “Hello again. Keith, is it? Am I pronouncing that right?”

He smiled. “You got it.”

“Splendid,” she said as the crowd thinned out around them. “Since I ran into you, may I have a moment of your time?”

“Sure,” he said, figuring she wanted behind the scenes Voltron facts.

“I just wanted to ask if you and the paladin you’re attached to are bonded?”

Keith swallowed, caught off guard.

Miyky blinked each of her eyes in succession, patiently waiting for a response.

Alien cultures had lots of different phrasing to mean dating, or in love, or married, or whatever amounted to ‘in a romantic relationship’. It never applied to Keith.

“No, I just got bit by a love bug,” he finally said, twisting the flower stem between his fingers.

“But you have true feelings for him?” Miyky asked. He blanched. “It’s plain as day, especially when you two were dancing, looking at each other like you’re the whole world.”

“I… uh…” he stuttered. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

She laughed gently. One of her eyes turned to Ulga, who was chatting a few feet away. “When I got bit the first time, I already loved her, but she had no idea. I was so scared she’d find out. But when she did—” She spread her arms. “It was perfect.”

“Do you think Lance—?” Keith swallowed the question. If he dared to ask it, he dared it to be true. He looked down; a fluff of the flower had landed on his boot. “He doesn’t…”

Miyky frowned in sympathy. “You’ve asked him?”

“No, but I know.”

She nodded, brow furrowing. “Of course, I don’t know anything about Earth culture or human facial expressions, so I’m sure you’d know best.”

“Keith!” Lance waved at him through the crowd, brandishing a folding chair like a trophy.

“But it sure looks like he got bit by the same pesky bug as you,” Miyky said lowly before returning to Ulga.

Maybe Miyky meant her words to be comforting, but Keith couldn’t keep expecting that anything lasting would come of this experience. This bite would wear off, he’d go back to the Blade, and he’d bundle up the crushing weight on his chest into something manageable.

“Found one!” Lance said cheerfully. He pointed to the flower in Keith’s hand. “What’s that?”

With a sweaty hand, Keith stuck the slightly mangled flower in Lance’s face.

“Aw, thank you!” Lance stuck it behind his ear and set his chin on his hand for display.

“Cute.” Keith barely heard the word fall out of his mouth, still wrapped up in his conversation with Miyky.

“C’mon.” Lance grabbed his hand and they went to find the team.

Lance stuck the lawn chair on the ground a few feet behind where the others were sitting. He flopped into it with a self-satisfied smile.

Keith stuck his hand on his hip. “Where am I supposed to sit?”

Lance looked around like it was the first time he’d given it any thought. “The ground?”

Keith let out a huff.

He shrugged at his lap. He didn’t have to ask twice.

Keith immediately plopped himself onto Lance’s lap, legs hanging off the arm rest. Despite his whirling worries, he couldn’t help but relax at the proximity. Lance dropped his arm around Keith’s shoulders like it belonged there, a comfortable weight keeping Keith close.

“Comfy?” Lance’s voice rumbled against Keith’s side.

Keith nodded, ducking his head so he wouldn’t have to confront Lance’s face right in front of his. His gaze instead landed on Lance’s hand, looking moisturized and manicured and just a bit lonely laying on Keith’s knee like that.

“When is this thing supposed to start?” Lance asked, ever impatient.

“Soon, I guess.” Keith plucked up Lance’s hand and played with his fingers, comparing them to his own and tracing Lance’s palm lines. What did fate have in store for Lance? Was it Keith, like Miyky expected?

He had to stop thinking like that. He had to, he _had_ to.

Lance hummed. His chin shifted against Keith’s hair, like he was about to speak.

Keith looked up and, god, this position put their faces so close together. Could Keith get away with pressing his cheek against Lance’s? His skin looked so soft. His lips looked exquisite.

Lance’s tongue peeked out to lick his lips before they parted. He didn’t speak.

“Do you know how to read palms?” Keith asked to stop himself from saying something stupid.

“Yeah.”

He presented an upturned hand. “Do it.”

Lance smiled, and Keith stored it in the place in his heart reserved for smiles that were _just_ for Keith. Lance trailed a finger along his palm. The light touch sent shivers down Keith’s spine. This was a bad idea. This was all a terrible, horrible idea.

“You’re gonna do great things,” Lance murmured. “But only if you listen to your wise sage and moisturize this gnarly callouses.”

Keith scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You are _not_ a sage.”

He pulled a face like ‘agree to disagree’ and continued inspecting Keith’s palm. “Your money line is huge, you better share your riches with me. And your love line…”

His heart jerked against his ribs. “Uh huh?”

Lance’s gaze felt like his touch; tender and gentle and just this side of too much for the aching want pulsing under Keith’s skin.

“All fucked up by this love bug right now,” he laughed shakily, like the air inside him wasn’t held steady.

“Lance.” And Keith’s next words would be a surprise to them both, because his brain sure as hell wasn’t filtering his words. “I know we fight a lot, and we’ve gotten kind of better, but I still act like I don’t care. And I do.” He swallowed. “I care about you.”

Lance’s eyes left his, relieving Keith of the pressure of his attention. “You’re just saying that ‘cause of the bug.”

“I’m not. I mean—I am, I’m saying it because of the bug, but that doesn’t mean I don’t mean it.”

He tilted his head back. “That’s exactly what that means.”

“No.” Keith sat up straighter, grabbing Lance’s face. “You think I don’t care about you?”

He felt Lance’s skin heat under his fingertips. “That’s not—I know you do, Keith. You’re just being really intense right now, and I know you don’t mean that.”

“What do you think I mean?”

What did Keith want Lance to think he meant? What did Keith _mean_ at all? Because he wasn’t confessing—he wanted Lance to confess, to prove Miyky right, or wrong, or _whatever_. He just wanted an answer.

Lance’s gaze burned. His lips parted, bottom lip full and glistening with saliva, tongue just barely visible.

Keith leaned in, easy as breathing, easy as arguing with Lance and doing anything to prove a point.

Then the Celebration of Light truly began. The colour wasn’t a slow streak, but a crack of brilliant violet snapping like lightning in the dark night.

It shocked sense into Keith. He bailed so hard out of that stupid move that he landed ass-first on the grass.

“Keith?”

Colours splashed across the black sky, like the brightest paints splattered across canvas. Beautiful and awe-inspiring, but they were no distraction from the thunderous pounding of Keith’s heart in his ears. Reckless was his MO but he wasn’t stupid, right? He wasn’t foolhardy enough to try to kiss Lance.

“I—I need to go,” Keith stuttered out. This was just too much; overexposure to the object of his affections was draining his senses.

“What?” Lance’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just—I’m tired.”

“C’mon, we’re gonna miss this?” He pointed at the sky. “I’ll carry you back to the hotel if you fall asleep. Please?”

Because they’d been inseparable—where Keith went, Lance went, and Lance wanted to stay.

Maybe Lance hadn’t noticed what Keith had been planning. Maybe his cover wasn’t blown, but stomping off just as the reason for the entire celebration was starting certainly could.

“Fine,” Keith decided. The whole point of leaving was to get away from Lance, anyway. Dragging Lance along wouldn’t help.

He remained on the grass, rigid as a stone. He tilted his head back and pretended very hard that Lance was not there.

“Are you not—whatever,” Lance muttered. Keith listened to him drag the chair forward until his legs nudged Keith’s back. Lance’s tugged on Keith’s jacket, encouraging him to lean his head against Lance’s knees. “Is that better, weirdo?”

Keith bit back a sigh of contentment as Lance idly swept his fingers through his hair. “Uh huh.”

And they watched the colours pop into existence together.

 

Obviously trying to sleep alone would be suspicious, and Keith really didn’t want to anyway, so he and Lance went to bed together again.

Lance fell asleep almost immediately, his warm breath washing over the back of Keith’s neck. He would’ve spent the whole night obsessing over the night’s events, but as it was, Lance’s comforting presence made Keith drift off shortly after they laid down.

Only to wake up some time later to an empty bed.

Keith was halfway across the room before he stopped himself. Lance had left for a reason. Maybe it was something quick, like going to the bathroom or grabbing a glass of water. Maybe he just needed time away from Keith for the first time in over twenty four hours. Keith could wait.

He laid back down. What had he wanted to do without Lance? Oh that’s right, obsess over whether Lance _like_ -liked him.

Well, Lance didn’t seem to notice that Keith had almost kissed him. If he _wanted_ Keith to kiss him, he’d have been paying attention to that, right? Maybe he noticed but wasn’t interested at all, and he didn’t say anything to keep it from being awkward. Maybe he liked him but thought the almost-kiss was just from the love bug?

His thoughts went on like this for fifteen minutes, until he realized that Lance had been gone at least that long. Where could he be? It was the middle of the night.

Keith left the room to investigate. Lance wasn’t in the lounge or the kitchen. He stepped out of the suite into the hallway, where soft voices drifted from around the corner.

“I’m getting so caught up in it,” he heard Lance say, though he was hidden by the wall. “Giving him whatever he wants.” Lance groaned. “I’m _dying._ And he’s got no idea.”

“I know, buddy,” Hunk replied. “This is rough.”

“He’s just always there, looking at me with those _eyes_. And that hair!”

Keith ran his fingers over his ‘mullet’. Lance still thought his hair was a mess? He thought he’d gotten over that.

“I can’t take much more I can take of this,” Lance admitted, resignation leaking into his words.

Keith swallowed past a lump in his throat. He shouldn’t be upset. Lance had no reason _not_ to be annoyed with the situation.

But… he thought they’d been having fun. When they were dancing, Lance had acted like they were at least friends. And the way Lance _looked_ at him—Miyky said it was like he was looking at his whole world. Keith didn’t know about that, but it did make his heart squeeze helplessly.

Keith covered his mouth to hide a pathetic sound. How bad was he at reading people that he confused Lance enjoying spending time together with dreading every minute of it?

He spun on his heel into the suite, warring with his emotions the whole way. He didn’t need to be crying over this, he tried to convince himself as he grabbed a pillow from Lance’s room. He curled up on his own bed, burying his face in Lance’s pillow, inhaling his scent to trick his body into calming down.

Lance thought _he_ was dying? No, that was Keith. After this bite wore off, Keith was going to have to avoid Lance like the plague, go straight to the Blade and not visit for months. He choked a sob into Lance’s pillow. The prospect of returning to the Blade as soon as the bite wore off made him wish the bite’s effects would never end.

His door hissed open. Keith lifted his head, dreading and hoping for Lance’s return.

Silhouetted in the dim light was… Shiro.

Keith whipped the pillow at him. “What do you want?”

“Hey, what’s your problem?” Shiro turned the room lights on. His face fell when he took in the tears streaming down Keith’s cheeks. His voice softened. “What’s going on, buddy?”

“Lance hates me,” bubbled out of his throat without permission.

Shiro took a seat next to Keith and laid a hand on his back. “Lance doesn’t hate you, Keith. Why do you think that?”

“I—I heard him talking to—” Keith took a deep breath in hopes he’d be able to get a full sentence out. It didn’t really work. “To Hunk. Saying it’s killing him hanging out with me.” He wiped his wet eyes on his sleeve. “I like him so much, Shiro, and he—he just—it _hurts_ that he doesn’t like me back.”

Shiro rubbed his back, sure and steady, but his words belied his anxiety with Keith’s troubled state. “Keith, I’m sure you misunderstood. Just breathe, okay?”

It felt like his chest was cracking open. It was bad enough yesterday with Pidge making fun of them for being opposites, a dull reminder that they’d never work. But now, hearing Lance acting like it’s torture to spend so much time with him—this was not helping him calm down, _fuck_.

“Keith?” Lance was in the doorway one second, and kneeling in front of Keith the next.

Keith launched himself into his arms. Lance’s hold was sure and tight. His heartbeat against Keith’s, right where it belonged, was already soothing him.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” Lance murmured into his hair. “Sorry I wasn’t—why’re you in _your_ room?”

“I—I was—” Trying to speak without his voice cracking was a futile effort.

“It’s fine,” Lance cut him off. “Everything’s okay. Did you have a nightmare or something?”

Keith nodded into his neck, agreeing with the lie.

“I got you,” Lance assured him.

He released a long, shuddering breath of relief. This stupid fucking bug was going to _kill_ him.

Shiro shifted away from the intense embrace and stood up. “Lance, I trust you can handle this?”

“Huh?” Lance looked up like he hadn’t noticed his presence. “Yeah, yeah we’re good.”

“Thank you. Keith?” He said when he reached the door. Keith lifted his head when Shiro didn’t continue immediately. Shiro pointed at Lance and mouthed emphatically, _He does_ not _hate you_. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Lance ran his hand from the top of Keith’s head, down his back, and then up again before burying his fingers in Keith’s hair. He focused on his soft touch, his warmth radiating over Keith’s skin. It sure felt like Lance cared about him. From his arms cradling him to his cheek brushed against Keith’s. _Feeling_ was so much more comforting than thinking. Maybe that’s why Lance was always doing it.

“You need water? Kleenex?” Lance asked after a bit.

Keith shook his head. “Wanna sleep. Can you spoon me?”

He lifted his chin regally. “It would be my honour, sir.”

He snorted. “Shut up.”

Lance grinned, rakish and charming. He flung himself onto the bed, arms open, and Keith crawled in without hesitation, welcoming the surety of Lance’s embrace.

“Better?” Lance’s voice was low.

Keith hummed in response and turned the room lights off. Now that he was wrapped up in Lance, exhaustion was settling back in. “You make me feel safe.”

His arms tightened around Keith’s waist. After a few minutes of soft breathing, he asked, “What was your dream about?”

The guilt of further lying to Lance weighed on his stomach like he’d swallowed a bunch of rocks, so he spoke a truth instead.

Low, and purposely muffled by his pillow, “I don’t wanna go back to the Blade.”

Lance’s thumb stuttered in its stroking the back of Keith’s hand. “Then don’t. Nobody wanted you to leave, Keith.”

“I had to.”

“You didn’t.”

A statement that begged a response, but Keith couldn’t dredge one up that wasn’t way too truthful.

Lance filled the silence, as usual. “I get that it was hard splitting your time between us and them, but you should’ve stayed with us. There are hundreds of Blade members—there’s only five paladins of Voltron.”

“There’s six,” Keith mumbled.

Lance’s breath caught, which Keith knew because Lance’s mouth was at his ear. Then, Keith was flipped on his back and Lance was frowning down at him. “What happened to leaving the math to Pidge?”

Even though the bed was easily a queen, Lance was curled up close, half on top of him as if they had the space of a cot. All Keith could do was blink up at him, because if moved, it was going to be up toward Lance’s mouth. If he tried to speak it would be embarrassing, like a sigh or moan or an awful baring of emotion.

“Keith, I didn’t come to you with that to make you leave,” Lance said seriously. “You were the leader—”

“I never wanted to be,” Keith said. “Shiro deserved the black lion. But I couldn’t take Red from you, because you couldn’t take Blue back from Allura and it was just—it was for the best.”

“Okay, but it’s not the best if you don’t wanna go back. If you’re not happy—”

“We’re in the middle of a thousand-year space war,” Keith snapped. “My happiness isn’t a priority.”

Lance reeled. “Who told you that?”

Keith shook his head. Nobody needed to tell him. He’d always known it; getting bounced from foster home to foster home growing up had made it clear from a young age that what he wanted wasn’t important. Besides, he _wanted_ to be in space. If he got too miserable with the Blade, all he had to do was think back to being raised on Earth, isolated and achingly angry, to convince himself that it wasn’t that bad.

“As long as I’m in space, I’ll be happier than I ever was on Earth,” Keith finally said. “It’s fine.”

“But you’d be happier with Voltron?” Lance pressed.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Keith, everything you’ve done in the past three days has been focused on making me happy, but _your_ happiness matters, too.” He said it with such force that Keith really believed that Lance believed it.

So why was Lance _dying_ spending all this time with Keith?

Keith rubbed his swollen eyes. “I’m tired, Lance. Can we just sleep?”

He couldn’t ask himself miserable questions if he was unconscious.

Lance deflated. “Fine.”

With a decidedly pouty attitude, he wrapped Keith back up in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The line "If he dared to ask it, he dared it to be true" is ripped from the Sara Bareilles song "If I Dare", and it's an incredible song, give it a listen! Also, neither me nor Lance actually know anything about palm reading.  
> As always, thank you so much for your comments and kudos, they really keep me going! Let me know what you thought!  
> Just one more chapter left ~~~


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy sorry for the lateness. Life has been Life with a capital L lately, so... ugh. Anyway, here we are with the last chapter! I've said it before and I'll say it again: consistent tone? I don't know her! But I think it's cute anyways!!  
> Please enjoy!

Keith woke wrapped up in Lance, as he’d quickly become accustomed to. Lance’s finger mindlessly traced shapes onto Keith’s shoulder blade, making Keith’s intention to get out of bed to start the day all the more difficult.

He craned his neck up at Lance, who was staring at the ceiling.

Last night’s conversation rose to Keith’s mind slowly, and when the memories fully resurfaced, he tried to shove it all back. He buried his face in Lance’s chest, groaning a little since it was, after all, the morning.

“Morning, sunshine,” Lance snorted. “Feeling well rested?”

“Sure,” he said, even though he’d rather stay curled up like this the whole day so he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of last night.

“Is there anything on Luloi you’ve been wanting to do?”

Keith looked up at him, cogs turning as he processed the offer. “I wanna… fly? I miss piloting.”

Lance grinned and rolled out of bed. “That can be arranged.”

Keith remained in bed for one more stunned moment. Was Lance really letting it go that quickly? Was it not as a big deal as it felt to Keith? Or had Lance elected a solution without any more emotional prodding because he knew that’s what Keith would want?

Lance smacked out a beat on the mattress. “C’mon, you ready for breakfast?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Keith muttered. He stood, feeling unbalanced by the relieved weightlessness warring with a heavy certainty that Lance was way, way too good for him. The only time Keith was nice was when he was coerced by a bug bite.

They got ready as Lance talked about their plans for the day. Keith just listened; he was stuck in a weird mood that he chalked up to waking up in the middle of the night and crying.

He slipped his hand into Lance’s as they left the room, sticking close to his warmth that reminded him of bed.

“Aw, who’s a sleepy baby?” Lance cooed as they crossed the lounge, where the team had gathered for breakfast.

Keith smushed his forehead into Lance’s shoulder. “I’m not a baby.”

Lance’s returning laughter was drowned out by Allura’s cheerful greeting, “Lance, Keith! What a wonderful morning.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lance replied, pausing in the doorway of the kitchenette. “Why?”

The team’s eyes zeroed in on their linked hands.

“Er, well—” Allura shared a glance with Hunk. “The bite has worn off for me.”

Her words hit Keith like a bucket of ice water; he was wide awake now.

He took stock of himself. Were compliments for Lance bubbling on his tongue? Was his body buzzing to be closer to Lance? Was he going to fall into a deep depression if they were separated more than ten minutes? Nope.

Keith dropped Lance’s hand like it was on fire.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

Lance’s jaw fell, slowly, until it was hanging open like his lion’s.

“You lied to me?” The betrayal in his voice rocked Keith back on his heels.

“Lance—” He couldn’t get another word out without dropping Lance’s gaze. “I wasn’t lying.”

He waited while Lance pieced it together; why hadn’t Keith not noticed the love bug effects wore off? Because he was feeling so much of it all on his own. And Lance would know, finally—

“Yes, you were,” Lance argued instead. He whirled to face the others. “He was copying Allura this whole time. He just wanted to get out of doing stuff! Which would’ve been fine if you’d _told_ me—”

“That’s not what happened,” Keith snapped. His cheeks were on fire. “Why are you _like_ this?”

“Then what happened?” Pidge butted in. She tossed a square grape into her mouth, attention rapt.

“Pidge,” Shiro chastised without looking up from the holo-tablet he was reading. “This really seems like a private conversation.”

Which prompted Keith to reach for Lance’s arm to drag him into the hallway. But Lance wrenched away before he could get a hand on him.

Keith choked back the stupid hurt that caught his throat. “Hallway. Now,” he said before charging out of the room.

All Keith’s walls that the love bug had demolished came speeding back. He’d put them up for a reason; they’d protected him from this horrifying vulnerability welling inside him.

He leaned against a garishly bright wall, crossing his arms to hold himself together.

Lance followed a second later, dramatic and flailing, so different from the soft guy two minutes ago calling him a sleepy baby.

Bitterness twisted Keith’s lips. He should’ve known this was coming, should’ve _known_ —

“God, I feel stupid,” Lance started. “I don’t know where you get off, flitting in and out of our lives as you please, and then when you come back, you pull this shit—”

“I wasn’t pulling anything,” Keith snapped. He glued his back to the wall to stop himself from launching into Lance’s personal space.

“Then why were you snuggling up to me ten minutes ago? And smiling at me like that?” Lance pointed at him. “You didn’t notice you’re finally over this overwhelming crush you’ve been complaining about for days?”

“No.”

He narrowed his eyes at him. “Elaborate.”

“I… don’t want to,” Keith tried, more of a question than a statement.

What Keith wanted mattered, right? That’s what Lance said last night.

Lance sucked his teeth, turning away. He ran a hand through his hair. After a moment, he said tiredly, “Fine. You don’t wanna explain yourself, then you can go fuck yourself.”

And he actually started walking away from Keith, as if none of this mattered. Like he wasn’t deeply involved in the outcome of this situation. Like he’d let Keith go right back to the Blade and without ever asking

And suddenly there was nothing Keith wanted more than to get his words out.

“I said I missed you,” Keith said, defiant but quiet, like if he spoke too loud the laws of reality might shatter.

Lance stopped. “Huh?”

“I said I like being around you. I complimented all your body parts and like every personality trait,” Keith said. Lance turned around, head cocked. Keith continued with his heart in his throat. “You think that’s _platonic_? You think if I saw Hunk first, I’d be telling him shit like he makes me feel safe? You think I’d demand to spend the night with Allura if I saw her first?”

Lance shook his head slowly, forehead furrowed. “What are you saying?”

“The love bug bite… made all my feelings about you worse.” Keith tucked his chin against his chest, mumbling, “Everything I said was true.”

“And what does that mean?”

Keith stared at him, waiting for Lance to get it. He didn’t.

“It means I like you,” Keith finally said. “I have a big, stupid crush on you.”

Surprisingly, the more Keith spoke, the freer he felt. He wouldn’t have to hide it anymore. There’d be no more desperately convincing himself that Lance didn’t like him no matter how much Lance smiled and joked with him. He was about to tell Keith, in no uncertain terms, that he wasn’t interested. Maybe then Keith could move on.

Lance opened his mouth. Closed it. “So are you saying copying everything Allura did was just a coincidence, or…?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to do anything she hadn’t done in case whatever I wanted to do was from my real crush and not the bug.”

He looked him up and down. “Are you sure that bug bite isn’t still in your system?”

Keith threw his hands up, palms sweating but faking some cavalier attitude he’d never had. “If you don’t give me a real response in two seconds I’m gonna stab you. Does that help?”

Lance shook his head, then spun on his heel back to the suite.

“What—hey!” Keith followed him.

When he opened the door, he found Lance accosting Allura.

“Are you _sure_ the bite’s worn off?” Lance grabbed her face, peering into her pupils.

“Quite sure,” Allura said.

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m not hopelessly enamoured with Hunk anymore?” She waved Lance off, and he reluctantly stepped back. “I appreciated the experience in allowing our friendship to flourish, but compliments are no longer springing to mind every time I look at him, and holding his hand doesn’t give me—what do you call them? Butterflies.”

Lance nodded, still staring at her intently.

Allura spread her hands. “And being separated from Hunk doesn’t cause me significant emotional distress. That’s really it, what else are you expecting?”

“Dude,” Hunk said to Lance, gesturing in Keith’s direction. “What’re you doing?”

“Is Keith still affected?” Coran asked from around the muffin he was eating.

“I’ll let you know.” Lance spun around as quick as he’d come in, grabbing Keith’s wrist on the way to the hall.

 _“Lance_.”

Before either of them could continue, a pair of Luloix exited their room down the hall. Keith and Lance waited impatiently as the aliens waddled passed, exchanging awkward good mornings.

Once they were out of sight, Lance leaned in and pulled up Keith’s eyebrows to inspect his pupil.

Keith smacked him away. “Nothing happened to my eyes!”

“How are you sure the bite’s worn off?” Lance demanded.

“Everything Allura said—except the butterflies thing,” Keith rushed to add when Lance rolled his eyes. “You still… give me butterflies,” he finished stiltedly.

Lance hummed. “That sounds like a love buggy thing.”

“Oh, come on.” He grasped for examples. He didn’t know his confession would come with a test. “C’mon, you can insult me and I won’t immediately burst into tears.”

“Okay…” He tapped his chin contemplatively. “Your face is bad.”

He rolled his eyes. “I mean, you told that kid I was pretty, so I _know_ you’re lying.”

“Whuh—I—” he spluttered. “I meant you’re an ugly crier.”

Keith snorted. “So are you.”

“Excuse me, we’re insulting _you_ here, not me.”

“Okay, well?” Keith spread his arms. “Hit me.”

Anything to get to an end point in this conversation.

Lance pressed his lips together. After a long moment of Lance looking him over and Keith itching out of his skin, Lance changed tact. “What’s your favourite thing about me?”

Keith sighed hugely. “Your compassion.”

Lance blinked. Maybe he hadn’t been expecting the split-second reply, but Keith didn’t need to think about his answer. “My what?”

“Compassion.” Not that Keith was getting a huge amount of that right now. “I was terrified when I first got bit, and the second you realized I was serious, you stopped joking and told me I was gonna be okay. You do that all the time, you’re always there for people, there for me—I’m not used to that. Being cared about.”

And there it was, all out in the open. His heart was on the line. Which was just as dramatic as when he’d been under the bug bite, but it was true. He’d shared his heart. All Lance had to do now was turn him down.

Instead Lance just stared at him like when they were dancing; his entire being focused on Keith. And Keith couldn’t begin to hope what that might mean.

Keith looked at the floor, throat getting thick. “Hanging out the past few days, I got the feeling… maybe you felt the same. If you don’t, just ignore me, I guess. I’ll go back to the Blade—”

“Don’t,” Lance blurted. Keith met his eyes, startled to find that Lance was now close enough to touch. “This is your home, Keith. Nobody wants you to leave again, including you.”

Keith’s heart became its own being, thumping away at a thunderous pace. “Well at this point, that really depends.”

“On what?”

“On if you ever give me an answer.”

“Did you ask a question?”

“I said I liked you. The question is implied.”

Lance’s breathed chuckle washed over his skin. And then Lance was kissing him.

Keith’s eyelids fluttered shut. His hands came up to grab Lance’s lapels, jerking him closer in an overenthusiastic motion.

Lance snorted, hand resting on his hips. “Eager, are we?” he mumbled, kind of eating Keith’s lips from trying to talk and kiss simultaneously.

“Shut up. Do you know how many times I’ve had to stop myself from just—”

Keith found Lance’s lips again. The love bug effects were gone; words wouldn’t flow from him like water, but he didn’t need them now that Lance was letting him kiss him, holy _shit_.

“Probably as many times as I did,” Lance said, ducking down to drop hot, open-mouthed kisses on Keith’s neck.

He wove his fingers through Lance’s hair, revelling in the attention. Keith’s imagination hadn’t been running away with him. All those smiles _were_ just for him. Last night when they were watching fireworks, Lance had wanted to kiss him, too. And later, when he’d been talking to Hunk—

“Oh,” Keith said. “So wait, last night with Hunk—do you _like_ my hair?”

“Huh?” Lance blinked. After a moment his lips, red and swollen, stretched into a smirk. “Wait, were you listening?”

He ducked his chin into his chest. “No…”

Lance kissed his cheeks, mumbling, “Aw, blushing. You’re so cute.”

“Shut up.”

“No, no. You’ve spilled all your beans,” he said, crowding in close. “You _like_ listening to me talk.”

Keith bit down on a smile. “All my beans?”

“All of them.” He kissed his way over to his ear. “Your pinto beans, and your black beans, and your kidney beans—”

He laughed into Lance’s shoulder.

“I _do_ like your hair,” Lance shared quietly. “And your eyes. And your lips, and kissing them.” He placed one more breathtaking kiss on Keith’s mouth before pulling back to meet Keith’s eyes. “And you. I like you, too.”

“Good.”

Lance leaned back in, a grin on his face.

The suite door swished open down the hall. “Hey, are you guys o…” Shiro trailed off. “…kay?”

Lance leaped back. Shiro’s eyebrows rose. The two stared back at him, hair mussed and lips shining with spit.

Finally, Shiro smiled smugly. “Told you he didn’t hate you.”

“Shiro!” Keith snapped.

He was already ducking back into the suite. “Come eat breakfast!”

 

After a few minutes of smoothing down their hair and trying to get Keith’s blush to disappear, they decided they were presentable enough to return to the team.

“So we’re gonna have to tell them, I guess?” Keith said.

“I mean, they’re gonna want, like, an explanation.” Lance cocked his head. “Do you not want them to know?”

“No, that’s not—” Keith groaned. He _barely_ wanted to talk to his feelings about Lance with Lance, let alone everybody else. And there would definitely be follow up questions. “They’re just gonna be so annoying about it.”

Lance slung an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry, babe, we’ll get through this.”

“Do _not_ call me babe,” Keith grumbled, blushing, as they walked into the suite.

“I don’t understand,” Allura said when they squished together on a loveseat. “Has the bug bite not worn off?”

“It has,” Lance said simply, reaching for a slice of purple toast. “We’re dating now.”

Pidge jerked straight out of her slouch. Allura turned to Keith curiously.

“I… like him,” Keith said. Lance handed him a piece of toast and he shoved it into his mouth so he wouldn’t have to elaborate.

Lance winked. “Can you blame him?”

“Who are you winking at?” Keith mumbled, drowned out by Pidge’s suggestion.

“Maybe it’s waning off differently in Keith for some reason.” Pidge stuck a spoon in his direction. “We should run some tests.”

“Hopefully the Luloix have some insight into this,” Coran said.

“That won’t be necessary,” Lance interrupted. “As I said, we’re happily dating now. We’ll be accepting cash gifts only.”

Allura rose from the couch and peeked behind Lance’s ear. “Have you gotten bit, too?”

He leaned into Keith. “No. Ripley’s believe it or not, I wasn’t holding Keith’s hand for three straight days just for his benefit.”

Keith bit the inside of his cheek to keep down a smile.

“There was nothing straight about those days,” Hunk mumbled into his yogurt.

Pidge cackled.

“Maybe it’s become contagious,” Allura suggested.

Coran’s brows drew together. “That would be very troublesome indeed.”

Keith tilted his head back on the couch. “Jesus Christ.”

Allura lifted Lance’s arm and peered down his sleeve.

“Please, I’m a taken man,” Lance said, laying his hand on Keith’s chest.

Pidge pulled a face. “Shiro, are you seeing this? What are we doing with this love bug epidemic?”

Shiro paused with his coffee halfway to his mouth, finally looking up from the holo-tablet he was reading. “Hm? I said congratulations, didn’t I? Maybe I got interrupted.”

“Are you even paying attention? They haven’t  insulted each other in over a minute!” Pidge set her chin on her fist, thinking. “Maybe we’ve slid into an alternate dimension.”

Coran nodded. “We should definitely run some tests.”

“Everybody relax.” Shiro stood up to put his empty coffee mug in the sink. “I assure you, Keith was into Lance before the bug bite ever happened.”

Keith’s cheeks flamed. “No need to elaborate on that, Shiro!”

“Wait, you told Shiro you liked me, but not _me_?” Lance turned to face Keith, affronted.

“Why would I tell _you_?” Keith retorted.

“Of course, why would you tell the person you liked that you liked them, how silly of me.”

“And yet…” Hunk trailed off, sending Lance a knowing look.

Lance shook his head at him. “Nobody asked you, Hunk.”

“Yeah, you told Hunk and not me,” Keith pointed out.

“You don’t know that.”

“ _Ohhh,_ ” Pidge released a long exhalation. “I get it, all their dumb fighting has been dumb _flirting_ this whole time! Oh my god, that’s exhausting. This is exhausting.”

“You’re telling me,” Hunk agreed.

Coran tentatively lowered the thermometer he’d whipped out. “Oh, well… if you’re all sure.”

“Congratulations, then!” Allura said with an encouraging smile. “The Luloix will be thrilled that your love bug experience was so productive.”

“Productive…” Keith repeated, watching Lance weave his fingers through Keith’s and kiss the back of Keith’s hand like he'd done it a thousand times before. He thought back on the last few days; feeling like he was dying from being nice to Lance, biting his tongue to keep this chest-bursting secret, to finally spilling a years-long pent up crush when the bug had worn off—and then it actually worked out just like his wildest dreams. In the end, the love bug wasn't so bad. “Yeah, let's go with that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and thanks so much for your kudos and comments! I appreciate it all, and I'd looove to hear your thoughts on this conclusion!  
> Here's a [tumblr post](http://katranga.tumblr.com/post/183879140158/moderation) for this fic if reblogging is a thing you feel like doing. You can follow me too if you want, I'm katranga over there too.  
> Again, thank you so much for coming out and reading this fic! I hope you enjoyed!


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